Death toll in what may be world's costliest natural disaster rises to 44,000

The Malaysia Star, Malaysia ^ | 12/28/2004 | AP

[eccentric]

Did they ever see "The Poseidon Adventure"?

Big earthquake + ocean = big wave

DUH!!!!

[eccentric]

Meanwhile, an organization I know of personally has an outpost on the beach in Kerala, India. Members contacted them by phone from the US, gave them the head's up, and they saved every one of the 2500 people in their compound, even the pet elephants, which were guided upstairs into a strong building. "Dazzling display of Logic." ---Mr. Spock

Can you give us a clue as to who the geniuses are?

[KarlInOhio]

But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.

If Korrupt Kofi and the rest of the UN is involved in distributing (and skimming) the relief funds, it would make much more sense to just send a ship full for $100 bills to the middle of the Indian Ocean and have a viking funeral for the money.

[dfwgator]

Of course the fallacy in The Poseidon Adventure was that out in the sea where the ship was, the wave would not have been that high. It only gets that high as it approaches the shore.

[RightWhale]

Almost a third of the dead were children, the U.N. children's agency estimated.

Almost a third of earth's population is children. This could be the biggest natural disaster in economic terms since development of the region is at its highest level ever. More to lose.

[Veto!]

Dazzling display of Logic." ---Mr. Spock

Apparently, considering the hundreds of vacationing Americans who might have received warnings from home by phone but did not.

My point, eccentric, was that many lives could have been saved by dazzling displays of logic from friends, families, and government agencies who might have just picked up phones and issued warnings without bureaucratic infrastructure in place. But they did not do so. What would your Mr Spock, whoever he is, say about that?

[Istanbul]

Is there any news from the US Navy on the Indian Ocean? Are there any casualties? Had they been warned in time?

[BushisTheMan]

Oh, I guess we aren't stingy after all:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1309726/posts

[IAF ThunderPilot]

The number stands at 60,000 already, and the UN together with health organizations warned that the diseases that are caused from the dead bodies may duble the number of dead poeple- so we may reach to a total of 120,000 dead from this disaster.

[FierceDraka]

Costliest natural disaster? Hardly. The Toba supervolcanic eruption of 74,000 years ago drove humanity to the brink of extinction.

[eccentric]

Survival of the fittest. Our ancestors were the fastest runners and best swimmers.

[eccentric]

"A dazzling display of logic." -Mr. Spock Star Trek "The Changeling"

I wasn't being sarcastic. I think it was great that someone was able to warn people across the ocean. Well, I was being sarcastic in calling them geniuses, because it seems like common sense. Why couldn't more people get a warning?