Posted on 12/29/2004 1:24:36 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Edited on 12/29/2004 1:48:00 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
The discovery of thousands of more bodies in Indonesia dramatically raised the death toll from the tsunamis that struck 11 nations Sunday to more than 68,000.
On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, near the epicenter of the massive earthquake that triggered the waves, 27,178 people were confirmed dead, according to the country's Health Ministry.
But that statement does not include figures from the island's hardest hit area, the Western coast where an estimated 10,000 were killed in one town alone, Meulaboh, according to Indonesia's national disaster director, Purnomo Sidik.
Desparate residents in the hard-hit province of Aceh, where rebels are fighting for an independent state, have turned to looting.
"It is every person for themselves here," district official Tengku Zulkarnain told a local radio station, el-Shinta.
With victims in 10 countries from Malaysia to Somalia, more than 3,000 miles away, the World Health Organization is warning the death toll could double from waterborne diseases such as cholera.
"There is certainly a chance that we could have as many dying from communicable diseases as from the tsunami," said David Nabarro, WHO's head of crisis operations told reporters in Geneva, according to Reuters
In Sri Lanka, mourners were forced to use their bare hands to dig graves for loved ones. In a single incident in the island nation, a giant wave swept a train off the tracks carrying 1,000 residents of the capital Colombo to a southern beach resort, killing more than 800.
Sri Lankan officials said today a total of more than 18,700 people are dead and many more were injured or missing.
"The scale of the tragedy is massive," said Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga in a BBC interview. "Sri Lanka has never been hit by tidal waves or earthquakes or anything at all in its known history, so this is a grave tragedy which we have not been prepared for."
Officials in India put the death toll there at between 4,000 and 7,000, including hundreds of fishermen swept out to sea in Tamil Nadu state.
"Why did you do this to us, God?" wailed an old woman in a ruined Tamil Nadu fishing village, the AP reported. "What did we do to upset you? This is worse than death."
In Thailand, the Interior Ministry counted 1,516 dead, including Poom Jensen, 21, the Thai American grandson of King Bhumipol Adulyadej. But the country's toll is likely to rise with 4,000 injured and thousands more unaccounted for, the AP reported.
The Washington Post reported scenes of chaos at the airport on the Thai resort island of Phuket, where hundreds of tourists, many injured and in tears, competed for scarce seats.
David Eisenman of Portland, Ore., wrote an e-mail to his mother describing the scene on the Thai island of Ko Lanta, where he fled inland from his hotel, reported KATU-TV in Portland.
I have never seen mass panic until now.Everybody took off running towards the hills in various states of dress and with or without their things (most people without). It was unbelievable.
I tried to jump in the back of a truck, but decided this wouldn't be such a good idea.
Instead I kept running uphill as the big wave hit, destroying our hotel, which I didn't hang around to see.
Malaysia authorities reported 65 dead and in Burma, 90 were reported killed, the AP said.
Bangladesh reported two deaths; the Maldives, at least 52, Seychelles, three; and the African nation of Somalia, 3,000 miles from the quake's epicenter, reported at least 110 deaths in coastal villages hit by waves.
Some of the private groups accepting donations for relief aid, listed by USAID, include:
Northwest Medical Teams
P.O. Box 10
Portland, OR 97207-0010
800-959-4325
Food for the Hungry, Inc.
Asia Quake Relief
1224 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
800-2-HUNGERS
http://www.fh.org
Catholic Relief Services
209 West Fayette Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
800-736-3467
http://www.catholicrelief.org
MAP International
P.O. Box 215000
Brunswick, GA 31521
800-225-8550
http://www.map.org
Mercy Corps
Southeast Asia Earthquake
Dept. W
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208-2669
800-852-2100
http://www.mercycorps.org
World Concern
Asia Earthquake and Tsunami
19303 Fremont Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98133
800-755-5022
http://www.worldconcern.org
World Vision
P.O. Box 70288
Tacoma, WA 98481-0288
800-56-CHILD
http://www.worldvision.org
Baptist World Aid
Asia Tidal Waves
405 North Washington Street
Falls Church, VA 22046
703 790 8980
http://www.bwanet.org/bwaid
To: JohnHuang2
if I may add to this list , here are others .
Excuse me for any repeats :
http://www.redcross.org/ (Red Cross United States)
http://www.icrc.org/eng (International Red Cross)
http://www.redcross.or.th/english/home/index.php4
(Thai Red Cross)
http://www.careusa.org/ (Care USA)
http://www.catholicrelief.org/
(CRS – very good one for India)
http://www.directrelief.org/sections/our_work/asia_earthquake.html
(Direct Relief International )
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/help/index.html
(USAID – United States State Dept )
http://www.americares.org/ (AmeriCares)
This is a very good one!
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/press_releases/AsianFloods
Additional Relief Agencies now going into operation
in the affected areas :
Action Against Hunger
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, NY 10018
212-967-7800
http://www.aah-usa.org
American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
800-889-7146
http://www.ajws.org
ADRA International
9-11 Fund
12501 Old Columbus Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-2372
http://www.adra.org
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-241-7000
http://www.afsc.org
Catholic Relief Services
PO Box 17090
Baltimore, MD 21203-7090
800-736-3467
http://www.catholicrelief.org
Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
805-964-4767
http://www.directrelief.org
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
PO Box 2247
New York, NY 10116-2247
888-392-0392
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
International Medical Corps
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 300
Santa Monica CA 90404
800-481-4462
http://www.imcworldwide.org
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
PO Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
41-22-730-4222
http://www.ifrc.org/
International Orthodox Christian Charities
Middle East Crisis Response
PO Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622
http://www.iocc.org
Lutheran World Relief
PO Box 17061
Baltimore MD 21298-9832
800-597-5972
http://www.lwr.org
MAP International
2200 Glynco Parkway
PO Box 215000
Brunswick, GA 3121-5000
800-225-8550
http://www.map.org
Mercy Corps
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
800-852-2100
http://www.mercycorps.org
Northwest Medical Teams
PO Box 10
Portland, OR 97207-0010
503-624-1000
http://www.nwmedicalteams.org
Operation USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Ste. 200
Los Angles, CA 90069
800-678-7255
http://www.opusa.org
Relief International
11965 Venice Blvd. #405
Los Angeles, CA 90066
800-572-3332
http://www.ri.org
Save the Children
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
800-728-3843
www.savethechildren.org
World Concern
19303 Fremont Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98133
800-755-5022
http://www.worldconcern.org
World Relief
7 E. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
443-451-1900
http://www.wr.org
World Vision
PO Box 70288
Tacoma, Washington 98481-0288
888-56-CHILD
http://www.worldvision.org
Very grim news. Hi, bud.
I can't recall a more God-awful event.
A death toll of 68,000 is nearly impossible for me to get my head around. At this point, it's just a number that keeps getting bigger. It will only continue to grow as the cholera and other diseases ravage the survivors. This is a true horror.
if I may add to this list , here are others .
Excuse me for any repeats :
http://www.redcross.org/ (Red Cross United States)
http://www.icrc.org/eng (International Red Cross)
http://www.redcross.or.th/english/home/index.php4
(Thai Red Cross)
http://www.careusa.org/ (Care USA)
http://www.catholicrelief.org/
(CRS – very good one for India)
http://www.directrelief.org/sections/our_work/asia_earthquake.html
(Direct Relief International )
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/disaster_assistance/help/index.html
(USAID – United States State Dept )
http://www.americares.org/ (AmeriCares)
This is a very good one!
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/press_releases/AsianFloods
Additional Relief Agencies now going into operation
in the affected areas :
Action Against Hunger
247 West 37th Street, Suite 1201
New York, NY 10018
212-967-7800
http://www.aah-usa.org
American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
800-889-7146
http://www.ajws.org
ADRA International
9-11 Fund
12501 Old Columbus Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
800-424-2372
http://www.adra.org
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-241-7000
http://www.afsc.org
Catholic Relief Services
PO Box 17090
Baltimore, MD 21203-7090
800-736-3467
http://www.catholicrelief.org
Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
805-964-4767
http://www.directrelief.org
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
PO Box 2247
New York, NY 10116-2247
888-392-0392
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
International Medical Corps
1919 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 300
Santa Monica CA 90404
800-481-4462
http://www.imcworldwide.org
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
PO Box 372
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Switzerland
41-22-730-4222
http://www.ifrc.org/
International Orthodox Christian Charities
Middle East Crisis Response
PO Box 630225
Baltimore, MD 21263-0225
877-803-4622
http://www.iocc.org
Lutheran World Relief
PO Box 17061
Baltimore MD 21298-9832
800-597-5972
http://www.lwr.org
MAP International
2200 Glynco Parkway
PO Box 215000
Brunswick, GA 3121-5000
800-225-8550
http://www.map.org
Mercy Corps
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
800-852-2100
http://www.mercycorps.org
Northwest Medical Teams
PO Box 10
Portland, OR 97207-0010
503-624-1000
http://www.nwmedicalteams.org
Operation USA
8320 Melrose Avenue, Ste. 200
Los Angles, CA 90069
800-678-7255
http://www.opusa.org
Relief International
11965 Venice Blvd. #405
Los Angeles, CA 90066
800-572-3332
http://www.ri.org
Save the Children
Asia Earthquake/Tidal Wave Relief Fund
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
800-728-3843
www.savethechildren.org
World Concern
19303 Fremont Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98133
800-755-5022
http://www.worldconcern.org
World Relief
7 E. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
443-451-1900
http://www.wr.org
World Vision
PO Box 70288
Tacoma, Washington 98481-0288
888-56-CHILD
http://www.worldvision.org
Thank you.
I'm afraid you're right...
Neither can I, friend. It's absolutely heartwrenching.
Welcome, friend.
I moved your list to the article box, so more people can see it.
Horrific catastrophies such as we see in south Asia do, indeed, give us a sense of perspective.
Those "stingy" Americans have donated close to a million dollars over at www.amazon.com.
http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/my-pay-page/PX3BEL97U9A4I/104-9203887-5419159
I saw Ceci Connelly on Special Report on Fox News last night complaining that we're not sending enough money. Even Juan Williams (who since the election has gone back to being slightly less nuts) said Americans are doing (and always do) the most. Krauthammer started throwing out some facts about what Americans do in terms of charity and Connelly's retort was something like "Thank God for Bill Gates."
Ceci Connelly works at the WashCompost if memory serves. If so, her reaction is typical of that newsrag.
Correct on both counts.
Ceci Connelly is an absolute airhead. I don't use the word often.
It will be interesting to see how accurate the reported death count and destruction has been as more and more factual infornation becomes available, likely many years before these stats are of public record.
It certainly has been over reported and obviously in an attempt to grab the headlines by many of the reporting entities, governments and news outlets.
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