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Nate Berkus survived the Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004. His partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea, went missing when the waves swept away the hut where they were staying; later reporting says Bengoechea’s body was never found. Berkus’s account changed over time: the day after the disaster, he described the struggle to reach safety, while later interviews and a podcast reflected on the grief that followed.
What happened to Nate Berkus and Fernando Bengoechea?
Berkus and Bengoechea were vacationing in Sri Lanka when the tsunami struck. A 2010 CBS News profile reported that they were staying in a hut that was washed away. Berkus survived; Bengoechea was reported missing. CBS News, September 10, 2010
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The Paranoid Survive: Surfing the Hi Tech Tsunami | $22.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Wave: A Memoir of Life After the Tsunami | $54.48 | Buy on Amazon |
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Lives Other Than My Own: A Memoir | $65.94 | Buy on Amazon |
The distinction between missing and physically recovered matters. In a 2011 CNN interview, Berkus said he had spent ten days in Asia searching for his boyfriend and that Bengoechea’s body was never found. The reporting supports that account, not a claim that his body was recovered. CNN, May 25, 2011
What Berkus said immediately after surviving the tsunami
In a CNN interview on December 27, 2004, Berkus described a beachfront cottage whose roof was ripped away by the water. He said he and his friend were carried out to sea. After briefly holding onto a telephone pole, another wave separated them; Berkus eventually reached a rooftop. He told CNN he was safe but was still missing Fernando. CNN transcript, December 27, 2004
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Asked about warning, Berkus said: “There was actually no warning.” That line belongs to his firsthand account of the event, given the day after it happened—not to a later reconstruction of the ordeal. CNN transcript, December 27, 2004
How Berkus later described the grief
In a 2024 interview excerpt, Berkus recalled the early period after the disaster as profoundly difficult. “I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping,” he said, describing his experience of grief. He also credited trained professionals with helping him through it. These are his personal recollections, not a diagnosis or a universal account of bereavement. PEOPLE interview excerpt republished by Yahoo, November 29, 2024
The loss also remained unresolved in a physical sense: Bengoechea’s body was never found. Berkus’s later reflections sit alongside that fact and the immediate uncertainty captured in his 2004 interview, when he knew he had reached safety but did not know what had happened to his partner.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where to hear Berkus reflect at greater length
OWN’s Super Soul episode “Nate Berkus: Surviving the Storm” is listed with an original air date of September 26, 2017. Its description presents a 32-minute conversation about surviving the tsunami and rebuilding his life afterward. The listing was published in 2025. OWN Podcasts via Apple Podcasts
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