The girl was able to escape, and Rendon, his wife and their daughters ran without shoes up a steep road, away from a 40-foot wave bearing down on them.

They then watched as their life in Phuket - their home, Rendon's office and his wife's restaurant - was destroyed. The only thing left was the restaurant's concrete foundation.

The family now is safe in Bangkok but the water tore Rendon's sister-in-law off her feet. She suffered internal injuries.

"Thank God he is OK," said Rendon's mother, Gloria Rendon, of Murray, who shared her son's e-mails with The Salt Lake Tribune.

"We're still in shock. We're still reeling from it."

Mark Rendon, who lost many friends in the tsunami, told his mother it was like World War III there.

Farmington resident Seldon Young - who also was on Phuket when the tsunami hit and on Friday toured areas marred by death and destruction - said people continued searching for bodies.

At Khao Lak, steam shovels are tearing open the beach, exposing a cache of bodies, some of which lie buried under 10 feet of sand and concrete. About 10 to 15 miles south, a fishing village, once home to more than 10,000 people, may have lost 90 percent of its population.

Young brought water and stuffed toy turtles to the village on Friday.

People walk around in search of bodies. Hundreds of corpses lie in large coolers the military delivered to keep the bodies from decomposing.

"There's so many bodies," Young said. "It's just awful."

New Year's Eve celebrations were cancelled, though the Thais tried to celebrate the holiday, he said.

Thai residents displaced in the disaster live in makeshift camps, where they sleep on mats and people bring them bags of food and water.

Huge warehouses store clothes and food, but blankets and mosquito nets have not arrived yet, Young said.

jhill@sltrib.com