TSUNAMI HORROR STUNS ANGELENOS.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

More than 48 hours after a tsunami devastated his Sri Lanka homeland, Aparekke Punyasiri hadn't slept a wink.

``It's horrible,'' said Punyasiri, 37, a monk at the Vhihara Buddhist Meditation Center in Sun Valley who attended a service Monday to honor the dead. ``I tried to contact (my family) but the telephone lines aren't working.

``I can't sleep now. It's hard to bear. ... We are praying.''

In the San Fernando Valley, residents with ties to Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and other nations hit hard by Sunday's magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis organized to determine what supplies, if any, could be shipped to the devastated region. Rescue agencies said cash would provide the speediest assistance.

``We will make every effort, no doubt about it,'' said Bal Sarad, vice president and trustee of the Hindu Temple Society in Northridge, which will likely join forces with temples from throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties.

``We are trying to gauge what sort of help is best to provide before going to (our) congregation.''

Kumar Jawa, founder of the India Association of Los Angeles, said he is among many operators of the 85 member businesses who have placed donation cans in their shops.

Jawa, who owns India Sweets and Spices stores in Northridge, Glendale and elsewhere, said the Indian community in the Valley will re-establish the support network created to raise funds for victims of the powerful temblor that killed tens of thousands in India in 2001.

Recipients could include such agencies as CARE and UNICEF.

``The people in Sri Lanka and India are in trouble,'' said Jawa. ``It's our community. Anything we can do to help.''

The Rev. Biworo Adinata of Gereja Bethel Indonesian Church in Woodland Hills said his congregation is doing everything in its power to help those affected by the earthquake and tidal waves.

``Right now, I don't know what to say. I'm so overwhelmed, just (hearing) the numbers of dead - first 8,000, then 12,000, then 23,000. It's really unbelievable.''

Richard Walden, president of operations for Operations USA, with relief services in war-torn Sri Lanka and in India, said he is seeking cash as well as corporate gifts of plastic shelters, tents, flashlights and batteries and purifying chemicals.

Donations have been streaming in from concerned Angelenos to the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles, a spokesman reported.

``The best way people can help right now is to give cash donations because it's the quickest way to get help where it's needed,'' said spokesman H.T. Linke. ``(We) put the money on the ground.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com