[LANMaster]

toll approaching 24,000.

WOW! this is awful.

[LANMaster]

U.S.: Help On the Way to Tsunami-Torn Asia
Monday, December 27, 2004


WASHINGTON — The United States government is mobilizing cash and disaster-response teams to help people in the tsunami-stricken nations of Asia as they recover from the tragedy that caused at least 23,700 deaths in eight countries on Sunday.

The African nation of Somalia also reported 100 deaths as a result of killer waves that crossed the Indian Ocean following an earthquake Sunday morning.

Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters Monday that $400,000 has gone to India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka already, and about $4 million is in the works to be given to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The Red Cross had asked for $6.6 million.

U.S. Agency for International Development assistant administrator Ed Fox added that the U.S. aid package could reach as much as $15 million once formal requests are in from governments and recommendations are made from disaster-assistance response teams on the ground.

USAID, the key American agency that provides assistance to countries recovering from disasters, is sending 21 people to Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. They will determine the extent of the damages and what contributions the United States should make.

The United States Pacific Command has also dispatched P-3 patrol aircraft stationed in Kadena air base in Okinawa, Japan, to Utaphao, Thailand, to conduct survey operations, including a possible role in search-and-rescue efforts. The Navy has not reported any damage to its ships or bases in the region.

Powell said eight Americans are confirmed dead, five in Sri Lanka and three in Thailand. Hundreds of Americans were injured and others are still missing. Powell said U.S. embassy officials are trying to locate those missing U.S. citizens.

The secretary said the State Department has set up a hotline for family members seeking information about relatives in the tsunami-struck areas. The number 1-888-407-4747 provides a recording, but gives some other contact information. Other information about general relief and emergency services is also available on the State Department's Web site at http://travel.state.gov/travel/crisismg.html.

Carol Miller of the International Red Cross told FOX News that first aid, field assessment and coordination teams are already on the way to the affected countries to find out what the needs are on the ground, but individuals who want to contribute financial assistance are also welcome to call 1-800-HELP-NOW or go online to http://www.redcross.org.

The tsunamis that stretched across the Indian Ocean were triggered by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake Sunday morning that hit off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island. While reports differ, Sri Lanka, 1,000 miles from the quake's epicenter, suffered the highest number of casualties, with more than 12,000 reported dead. Indonesia had 5,000 dead, India 3,000 and Thailand listed 339 dead, including the grandson of that nation's King Umepon. The Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Somalia together reported hundreds of casualties. Twenty-two nations not directly hit by the tsunamis reported citizens missing or dead.

Powell said while aid is on its way, the impact of the devastation will be felt for a long time to come.

"Some 20-plus thousand lives have been lost in a few moments, but the lingering effects will be there for years. The damage that was caused, the rebuilding of schools and other facilities will take time. So you need a quick infusion to stabilize the situation, take care of those who have been injured, get immediate relief supplies in, and then you begin planning for the longer haul," he said.

Powell said he spoke with President Bush on Monday morning and the president is closely monitoring the situation from his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Powell said the administration has expressed its deepest condolences to the families of those affected by the tragedy.

At Crawford, known as the western White House, Deputy Press Secretary Trent Duffy said the United States "will be a leading partner in one of the most significant relief, rescue and recovery challenges that the world has ever known."

Duffy said U.S. embassies have been working since Sunday morning to help Americans in the region. Bush has written letters to the leaders of seven countries hardest hit by tsunamis.

"Again, this is a terrible tragedy. There is a significant loss of life. And our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are suffering," Duffy said.



link

[DiSaidSo]

Originally Posted by LANMaster

Carol Miller of the International Red Cross told FOX News that first aid, field assessment and coordination teams are already on the way to the affected countries to find out what the needs are on the ground, but individuals who want to contribute financial assistance are also welcome to call 1-800-HELP-NOW or go online to http://www.redcross.org.

What these organizations really need right now is CASH! Every little bit helps!

[LANMaster]

WOW Check out this video of the waves crashing the shoreline in Thailand.

http://www.nbc10.com/news/4026938/detail.html

[jaye944]

Originally Posted by eggplant43

You add a real personal note to this affair. Could you provide an address for sending funds, since they are asked for?

My real concern here is what is to follow, is this a precursor to an even worse eruption of a volcanoe, such as Krakatoa? No one is talking about that aspect of this incident, and I feel they should be.

I mentioned in another thread yesterday "Krakatoa" by Simon Winchester, a fascinating read.

have heard this also.

also I'm working on something re the funds, will post something next few days

cheers for the cares
Ade

[eggplant43]

Here's another place to make contributions, Doctors Without Borders, like the Red Cross is non-political. I like that they show what a contribution can do:

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/what.shtml

[jaye944]

Originally Posted by Jonesiegirl

I'm glad you touched on jayes comment. I agree wholeheartedly that there's a huge difference in the wrath of Mother Nature, versus the wrath of terrorists!
It's a tragedy all the same, but one came naturally and the other, well, we all know the story.

I understand this and when I wrote this originally I was hoping I would not pi$$ anyone off.

my point and not taking anything away from any disaster or atrocity

that, 9-11 the whole world knew and the media wake that ensued. AND AS IT SHOULD HAVE. within klike 30 seconds

a LOAD more people lost there lives and up untill 30 minutes ago (UK time) the BBC had NOTHING (as did the other channels) only a small bulletin.

hey, hang on HELLO, 23000 people have just been wiped off the face of GODs earth ? If this had happened anywhere remotley near the "civilised world" excuse the wording, the whole world medai would have benn on it with non stop coverage.

if anyone can get VECTONE (Tamil) on cable there is 24 live coverage including pictures of the carnage, the mortuaries and misery thats happeneing

At least Sky News as been good (is Sky news part of CNN??)

again I'm NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY from 9-11 and I was so upset and unhappy about that, had I the stars and stripes that would have been flying outta my window ! and I'm British !!!!!

[jaye944]

Originally Posted by DiSaidSo

What these organizations really need right now is CASH! Every little bit helps!

yes thats true but the problem is that unfortunatley like a lot of countries, there is a LOAD of corruption in SL. You can g'tee that people will be lining there pockets its sick and sad but it will happen.

PLs donate to whatever way you feel.

Next day or so, I'm going to have some info on this.

cheers

Adrian

[jaye944]

some further info

1> a train in Batticaloa with 500 people, was wiped out along with its railway tracks all on board dead

2> Eastern coastal areas are serviced by poor fishermen, many have been lost, 1000's of fammiliies lost there main source of income, fathers and husbands

3> personal note: my cousins, 2 sons and ex-husband are missing and can not be contacted her father, who was in an old peoples home, is now in a shelter after the home was again wiped out dont know how many were lost or missing. Please remember Trudi in your prayers.

4> bit of good news: my friend's sister who was in hospital yesterday with heart problems is out of danger and has been discharged.

Lord, just give me one mountain at a time !

[angelize56]

Jaye: I'm so sorry you have missing family members! Like everyone else affected by this disaster you have to keep your hopes up. Also...I'm glad your friend is doing better!

As I'm watching the news about this and reading about it...I'm just so saddened by the enormous numbers of those who died! And reading of how they bury so many in mass graves...do they do this without knowing who those they are burying are? It must be so heart breaking to possibly never see your loved ones again...to wait and worry....this is so horrible! God bless those who have died...but really bless those looking for their famiies and friends. And all those displaced people who no longer have a home to go to...what's to become of them in the near future....it's just a nightmare! I can't imagine anything of this magnitude here in the U.S. Makes me feel blessed to live where I live and makes me appreciate the little comforts of life. This tragedy will take such a long time to recover from. I can't begin to imagine how devastating it must be to walk around in the affected countries and see the horrors these people are seeing...

Corpses Piled on Asian Coasts After Tsunami Kills 23,200

Mon Dec 27, 2:18 PM ET Top Stories - Reuters

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Rescuers scoured the sea for missing tourists and fishermen in Asia Monday and fears of disease grew as emergency services struggled with rotting bodies from a devastating tsunami that killed more than 23,200 people.

The disaster spared no one. Western tourists were killed sunbathing on beaches, poor villagers drowned in homes by the sea and fishermen died in flimsy boats. The 21-year-old grandson of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej was killed on a jet-ski.

"We have a long way to go in collecting bodies," said Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who expected the 866 death toll in his country to go much higher. One Thai official estimated up to 30 percent of the dead were foreigners.

Hundreds were buried in mass graves in India while hospitals and morgues in Sri Lanka and Indonesia struggled to cope with injured and bewildered victims and bloated corpses.

"It smells so bad ... The human bodies are mixed in with dead animals like dogs, fish, cats and goats," said Marine Colonel Buyung Lelana, head of an evacuation team in Indonesia's Aceh province on the island of Sumatra.

Sri Lanka was hardest hit by the tsunami -- a wall of water triggered by the world's biggest earthquake in 40 years with a magnitude of 9.0 that erupted off the northern Indonesian coast.

The death toll in Sri Lanka nearly doubled Monday to 10,200 with 200 foreign tourists feared dead. The final toll could be much higher, even double, officials said.

Other areas worst affected by Sunday's tsunami were southern India, where more than 7,100 were listed dead, northern Indonesia with nearly 5,000 drowned and Thailand's devastated southern tourist isles and beaches.

With at least seven Asian nations and one in East Africa counting the human and economic cost of the tragedy, Western nations pledged aid and geologists asked why warning systems that could have saved thousands of lives were not in place.

CATASTROPHE UNPRECEDENTED

Struggling with destroyed communications, power outages and swamped and debris-strewn roads, emergency workers were shocked by the sheer scale of the catastrophe.

"We are used to dealing with disasters in one country. But I think something like this spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented," Yvette Stevens, a U.N. emergency relief official, said in Geneva. "We have not had this before."

Families around the world anxiously sought news of loved ones on Christmas holidays whose dreams of sunshine in the east were turned into scenes of disaster. Calls from worried relatives swamped hotlines set up by ministries and tour firms.

"Our paradise turned into hell," said American tourist Moira Lee, 28, who was on Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand.

The earthquake triggered a tsunami of up to 10 meters (33 feet) high, sometimes traveling as fast as an airliner, flattening houses, hurling fishing boats onto roads, sending cars spinning through swirling waters into hotel lobbies and sucking sunbathers, babies and fishermen out to sea.

In Sri Lanka alone, 1.5 million people were homeless and authorities in other countries said vast numbers of people had been displaced and had to search for shelter.

Deaths were reported in Bangladesh, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar and Somalia where 38 people were killed by swollen seas.

Smaller tremors followed Sunday's earthquake, the world's biggest since 1964 and the fourth-largest since 1900.

The tsunami had echoes of another apocalyptic seismic event that originated in Indonesia when the island volcano of Krakatoa erupted in 1883 causing a tsunami that killed 36,000 people.

Indonesian rescue workers pulled hundreds of bodies from treetops, rivers and wrecked homes in Aceh province, desperate to clean up before disease could spread from rotting bodies polluting water supplies.

Typhoid, diarrhea and hepatitis epidemics now pose the gravest threat to survivors, international relief agencies said. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the death toll in Aceh could rise to 10,000. Deaths were previously put at 3,000.

"I am hoping there are still enough coffins available," said Mustofa, mayor of Aceh's Bireuen regency.

In the city of Banda Aceh, dozens of bodies were scattered on streets, while masses of debris, a mix of mud, ruined trucks and cars, and wood from shattered houses, had yet to be cleared.

FLOWER PETALS ON THE SEA

Hundreds of Indians scattered flower petals at sea and sacrificed chickens to pray for the safe return of those carried away by the sea as aftershocks hit some areas.

While some Indians held on to fading hope, others broke down as they discovered loved ones among the loads of dead ferried to hastily erected open-air morgues and authorities gouged out mass graves to bury bodies already rotting in the tropical heat.

At a hospital in the town of Thazhanguda, a group of women already consoling the mother of one victim broke down when the body of the daughter of another was brought in.

"Anasuya, Anasuya. Talk to me, talk to me, it's your mother," one wailed, hugging the sand- and weed-covered body.

Police say at least 3,000 have died and a similar number are missing in the low-lying Andaman and Nicobar islands close to the quake's epicenter off Sumatra. Coast Guard crews reported flying over hundreds of bodies off India's east coast. (Just awful!)

In Sri Lanka, homeless people fearing another wave sheltered in temples, schools and on high ground.

Among those killed in Sri Lanka were nine Japanese tourists who were watching elephants in a park when the tsunami hit.

"The scale of the tragedy is massive ... this is a grave tragedy which we have not been prepared for," Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga told the BBC.

Weeping relatives scrambled over hundreds of bodies piled in a hospital in the town of Karapitiya, shirts or handkerchiefs held over their noses against the stench of decaying flesh.

"We are struggling to cope. Bodies are still coming in," said Dr H.G. Jayaratne at Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.

Thailand evacuated injured survivors from its southern beaches. Britons, Danes, Swedes, Swiss, Australians, Italians and at least one New Zealander and an American were among the dead on Phuket, where at least 130 people were killed.

On Phuket's Patong beach, hotels and restaurants were wrecked and speed boats rammed into buildings. Many foreign tourists, some evacuated in bathing costumes, were left destitute, possessions and passports lost to the sea.

It emerged that U.S. officials who detected the quake tried frantically to warn Asia the deadly wall of water was on its way but there was no official regional alert system to contact.

Iran Monday sent condolences to Asian countries struck by a tsunami a year to the day after an earthquake killed 31,000 people in the Iranian city of Bam. (That was nice of them.)

[eggplant43]

I believe that if each one of us who is able will make a contribution, or contributions it can really make a difference. Some ideas: American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Americares (they have the highest rating as a charatable organization, this means that largest amount of your contibution goes to the recipients, as opposed to admin expenses).

[jaye944]

Originally Posted by angelize56

And reading of how they bury so many in mass graves...do they do this without knowing who those they are burying are?

yep, they are burying people who can not or not easily be identified.

this is due to the ammount of dead and risks of desease if left for too long.

I think a lot of people will only have a notice that there relative is listed as "missing swept out to sea presumed, dead" when in all probability they are in a mass grave somewhere.

its sad, but what can you do ?

laters

[eggplant43]

For anyone who has been to the tropics, you immediately understand why immediate burial is necessary.

[DiSaidSo]

Originally Posted by jaye944

I understand this and when I wrote this originally I was hoping I would not pi$$ anyone off.

my point and not taking anything away from any disaster or atrocity

that, 9-11 the whole world knew and the media wake that ensued. AND AS IT SHOULD HAVE. within klike 30 seconds

a LOAD more people lost there lives and up untill 30 minutes ago (UK time) the BBC had NOTHING (as did the other channels) only a small bulletin.

hey, hang on HELLO, 23000 people have just been wiped off the face of GODs earth ? If this had happened anywhere remotley near the "civilised world" excuse the wording, the whole world medai would have benn on it with non stop coverage.

if anyone can get VECTONE (Tamil) on cable there is 24 live coverage including pictures of the carnage, the mortuaries and misery thats happeneing

At least Sky News as been good (is Sky news part of CNN??)

again I'm NOT TAKING ANYTHING AWAY from 9-11 and I was so upset and unhappy about that, had I the stars and stripes that would have been flying outta my window ! and I'm British !!!!!

This story has been the top story on every newscast I've seen since this catastrophe. There's probably not much news coverage due to a) inaccessibility to the area and/or b) lack of information and/or c) lack of local media. Yes, on 9/11 we had a week of non-stop coverage (at least here in the USA, we did), but two out of those three things listed above were not a problem. The area was relatively accessible and local media was all over the place. Every disaster has a lack of information problem right after the event. Let's hope that the death toll is too high on this one just as it was on 9/11.

I agree with you that they should cover this story as completely as possible. But 9/11 and this catastrophe are so completely different. And it has nothing to do with how "civilized" the population is. The truth is, there were so many casualties due to lack of preparation (building codes, etc), lack of warning, and dense population. It is truly a shame that change has to come about in this manner, but let's hope there are major changes in the SE Asia corner of the world.

[Servant of Eru]

My friend in Malaysia says the Death Toll is now up to 40k. Wow...