Tidal Waves Kill 23,700 in Nine Countries

[derby378]

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Dec 27, 2004 — Rescuers piled up bodies along southern Asian coastlines devastated by tidal waves that obliterated seaside towns and killed more than 22,000 people in 10 countries, and officials indicated Monday that the death toll could climb far higher.

Hundreds of children were buried in mass graves in India, and morgues and hospitals struggled to cope with the catastrophe. Somalia reported hundreds of deaths, some 3,000 miles away from the earthquake that sent tsunamis raging across the Indian Ocean.

The International Red Cross reported 23,700 deaths and expressed concern about waterborne diseases like malaria and cholera. Jan Egeland, the U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, said millions of people were effected by lost homes, polluted drinking water, destroyed sanitation and that the cost of the damage would "probably be many billions of dollars."

"We cannot fathom the cost of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages and so on that have just been wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of livelihoods have gone," he told reporters.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=362944

[derby378]

1. Relief agencies?

Can anyone recommend a good agency already on the ground in Indonesia, Thialand, Sri Lanka, etc. who could use donations of money, clothes, etc? Thanks in advance.

[kerrygoddess]

2. List of Agencies for Donations to Aid Asia

Action Alert: List of Agencies for Donations to Aid Asia

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=168

[Tace]

11. As A Quaker, I Can Recommend The American Friends Service Committee

on that list. Cheers

[kostya]

12. Is there a site that evaluates these various organizations

in terms of how much of your donation really gets to the folks at the bottom of the chain? Or, what sorts of aid they give exactly. I don't want to donate just to find out that not even half of my money did any good than pay a bunch of administrative salaries of people not in need. - K

[Solly Mack]

4. International Red Cross & Red Crescent

http://www.ifrc.org/

They are getting a lot of traffic. Slow to load at times.


I gave this morning. I'll give again. I took blankets to a local facility that is collecting them to send. I threw in the only tent I had... Wish I had more of them.

I'm still trying to absorb this...

[Kurovski]

6. I've heard reports that money

is needed more than items.

Why, they do not say.

I guess because of the immediacy.

If you can't get into some of the websites due to heavy traffic, you might want to try calling in a donation.

Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
805-964-4767
www.directrelief.org

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres
PO Box 2247
New York, NY 10116-2247
888-392-0392
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

International Medical Corps
11500 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 506
Los Angeles, CA 90064
800-481-4462
www.imcworldwide.org

[Solly Mack]

7. Yes. Money is best

The blankets are going over with a relief group. So will the tent.

[spinbaby]

8. Probably faster to buy locally

My guess anyway. Plus there's no transport cost.

[Mad_Dem_X]

3. I have a friend in Thailand...

at least that's where he was last time we heard from him. I hope he's okay! :scared:

[aquart]

5. Food.

I don't know what the impact will be. Those are heavy fish-eating economies. Over 5,000 of the dead are fishermen. Their skills with them.

[Why Syzygy]

9. "cannot fathom"

is absolutely true.

Aghast.

[paula777]

10. Are there any news sites releasing the names of the US victims?

My dad is in Thailand right now and I keep reading that there are american casualties but they don't name them. Has anyone seen names?

[Moderator]

13. locking

let's stick to this thread for now

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1099796&mesg_id=1099796