On 26 December 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami struck Sri Lanka, killing more than 35,000 people and leaving many more homeless. A great deal of aid arrived from around the world, but there was immediate disagreement over how it should be distributed to the Tamil regions under LTTE control. By 24 June the government and LTTE agreed on the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS), but it received sharp criticism from the JVP, who left the government in protest. The legality of P-TOMS was also challenged in the courts. President Kumaratunga eventually had to scrap P-TOMS, which led to widespread criticism that sufficient aid was not reaching the north and east of the country. However, immediately following the tsunami there was a marked decrease in violence in the north.