Sad to say, but there have been worse, cyclones in Bangladesh have killed a half a million. India and Bangladesh regularly have these kinds of calamities, but you rarely hear about them. The difference is, in this case, many Western tourists were among the victims and that is the reason it is getting the kind of coverage it is. Sad to say it, but it's true.
Imagine if some daycare center here were flooded and 5 or 10 drowned toddlers were hanging dead on a fence. It would be an incredible tragedy and the lead story. Now multiply that by 1000. Imagine having to burn dead children or bury them in mass graves, then living with malaria and no shelter. I'm giving what I can to the Red Cross but wish there was something more I could do to help those people.