Drinking water, brought in pouches from tourist resorts, was supplied within hours of the tsunamis hitting the Tamil Nadu coast to 'kuppams' (fishing villages) by local youth. So was food.
The injured had access to medical aid, ferried to hospitals by local auto-rickshaw drivers and young men, and even passing strangers who carried people on bicycles and scooters.
"The injured were taken to hospital without being asked if they were Hindu or Muslim," said V Uma, a victim from Kalpakkam.
One of the reasons why Sunday's tsunami toll is not greater than it has been - over 4,000 - is because very quickly locals rushed to the rescue of victims, irrespective of religion, cast or creed.
By nightfall, the mosque in Tambaram on Chennai's outskirts had turned into a shelter for 200, manned by Tamil Muslim Munntera Kazhagam (TMKK) volunteers.
Victims came from as far as Kalpakkam and Kovalam village. They were ferried by TMMK volunteers from highways and roads, from far and near, and provided immediate help, food and shelter besides safe water.
As many as 2,000 Hindu fishermen families were given shelter at the Nagoore Dargah.
{{/usCountry}}As many as 2,000 Hindu fishermen families were given shelter at the Nagoore Dargah.
{{/usCountry}}At picturesque Tranquebar too, it is the mosque and the local community that has provided shelter to tsunami victims.
"Please help our relief effort at Neelangarai kuppams" - it was an SMS that went around to over a thousand people within hours of the tsunamis hitting the Tamil Nadu coast.
The message was from the local unit of Exnora International, and environmental NGO, asking for food, funds, clothing, anything possible, while mobilising volunteers.
At 4 p.m., at the mortuary of the Royapetah Hospital, young men like Bhanu helped identify the dead, carried them out of the mortuary, supported and guided the bereaved.
Without these local youths who swung into action immediately to carry the injured to hospital, or to carry the dead, it would have been impossible for the government to start at least identifying and disposing of bodies that had piled up at the morgue within hours of the tragedy.
Ham radio operators made some of the biggest contributions to post-tsunami communication.
It was the radio of the Amateur Radio Society of India team from Chennai, on an expedition to the Andaman Islands, that crackled to life within two hours of the devastation, telling the world that Andaman till had life on it.
"Every other form of communication was down. The expedition equipment was the only link with the mainland Port Blair had for several hours," Gopal Madhavan, a member of the society's governing council, told the media here.
Every small effort has mattered in the last few days.