A couple have told how they ran for their lives with the Asian tidal wave at their heels.

Benfleet couple Rachel and Brian Welch were forced to run for their lives, the waves lapping at their heels as they fled from their hotel in Sri Lanka.

They were considering going scuba diving when the tsunami devastated the coastline.

Basildon pair Michele Marshall and Darin Murphy, who went to the island nation to get married, told how they clung to each other in a small boat off the coast and waited for the waves to come after being warned, "the ocean is coming".

Their dream wedding never happened.

And Thundersley worker Jacqui Thompson and her partner John Carrell spoke of their shock when their hotel room, in Sri Lanka's Galle, "exploded with water and debris", forcing the couple to break the door down and cover their naked bodies with tablecloths as they ran to safety.

All of them spoke of the "amazing" locals, who often put the tourists' wellbeing before their own, despite losing most of their possessions and livelihoods. Meanwhile, individuals and organisations across the region are calling for donations in a desperate attempt to help the thousands injured and millions homeless as a result of the disaster.

Rescue teams and tradespeople have gone on standby to help with the recovery, as the full scale of the tragedy starts to reveal itself.