If the islands have no barriers around them, then I am afraid that they were most likely hit, and hard. Officials from Maldives are saying that the thousands of outlying islands have no form of communication with main islands and they fear that up to another 6 to 8 thousand may be killed. So far the total number of deaths has rocketed to over 52,000. The United States government has now pledged $20 mil more. The situation is becoming increasingly more difficult as mass graves are being dug out and filled with the dead. With mass looting already starting, the world economy will certainly be affected significantly with this disaster. As for the economic consequences, the medical ones will be graver. Experts are saying with the number of dead, the population density of the area and the higher rate of movement there, the spread of disease will take a heavier toll than the tsunami itself. Here are the latest casualty figures by country.
Indonesia: 27,000
Sri Lanka: >18,000 with up to a million displaced
India: >4000 confirmed, 7000 estimated.
Thailand: 1500 confirmed, up to 4000 estimated
Maldives: 52 confirmed
Malaysia: 44 confirmed
Burma: 30 confirmed
Bangladesh: 2 confirmed
Somalia: 100 confirmed
Kenya: 1 confirmed
Seychelles: 3 confirmed
Tanzania: 10 confirmed
Final casualty reports at the maximum will be around 250,000 deaths. This number might be attained if disease is free to spread around. I continue to pray for those affected and I hope you are too.