Death toll reaches 100,000

[CreekDog]

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/15630695?source=Evening%20Standard&ct=5

Death toll reaches 100,000
By Andrew Gilligan In Colombo And Valentine Low In London, Evening Standard
29 December 2004

The death toll in the tsunami disaster soared past 100,000 today - and is set to climb higher.

A total of 50 Britons are now confirmed dead and at least 100 are unaccounted for after tidal waves swept away resorts in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and around the Indian Ocean.

Officials in every country today warned the final number of dead will be even higher as rescue teams reach remote areas.

The UN said there were now strong grounds to believe that the toll in the Sumatran province of Aceh, the worst affected area, would be as high as 80,000. The number dead has now climbed in every country affected, including:

full article at:

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/15630695?source=Evening%20Standard&ct=5

[prayin4rain]

1. This is a nightmare!!!! I am so sad for all of those people.

[despairing optimist]

62. What's worse is, it's probably better to have died quickly

than from the disease, exposure, and malnutrition that may be the "lucky" survivors' lot. The area affected covers thousands of square miles and there may not be enough time to save many of them.

Having US troops helping out those people rather than imposing an unwanted government in Iraq would do more to fight Islamic terrorism than prosecuting a "war on terror." Sadly, restating the obvious is essential nowadays.

[Runcible Spoon]

2. this is such a tragedy.

my heart goes out to all of the victims.

[aquart]

3. Aceh is a civil war province, isn't it?

The aid will never reach the survivors. You can triple the death toll right now.

[CreekDog]

5. In Sri Lanka, reported diversion of aid from Tamil to Sinhalese areas

I wish I had a link for that, but it's already happening in other areas.

[mzmolly]

6. Oddly enough I heard that they are putting the war aside right now?

I sure hope so.

[aquart]

57. Yes. Wow.

I've read that since I posted. I'm just thankful.

[mzmolly]

4. So very tragic.

:(

[rocktivity]

7. Sigh...I'll update the story on my web site again

A member of a Swedish heavy metal band was vacationing in Thailand and is unaccounted for.
http://www.rocknation.tv

:headbang:
rocknation

[Longhorn]

8. Unbelievable!

There's just no way to truly grasp this. My heart goes out to the survivors.

[Oversea Visitor]

9. Misleading News

As a Malaysian I really resent the blantant misrepresentation of facts

Article post by Deepmodem mom in LBN
A Tradegy in Asia Affect All Corner Of The World

Facts Tourist Casualty report for Malaysia and Indonesia is been misrepresented.
Facts Malaysia and Indonesia are both Islamic country
Facts Sri Lanka has higher tourist casualty
The reporter is question need a lesson in factual reporting

[donco6]

42. ??

Do you have some links supporting your information?

[Oversea Visitor]

45. It is

posted in LBN today
The thread was lock while l was trying to response to it.

[Oversea Visitor]

10. Thread is lock

so l cant post there

[shanti]

65. so post it here!

[KingChicken]

11. Catastrophic...

This is one for the history books, I can't believe so much life lost in this modern age. It's really a shame that no one had early warning equipment based around the Indian ocean.

Everyone should pitch in to help these people, I’d like to see our gov't commit some real money. I wish this country would stop killing people in Iraq, the world has enough problems, like this tragic disaster.

[dave123williams]

12. Bush LEAPS in to action, and immediately goes on vacation.

[GiovanniC]

19. S.O.P.

Standard Operating Procedure

(for Bush, that is)

[blueheeler]

13. The US Agency for International Development is broke!!

This is the agency funding the rebuilding of Iraq. They are broke. W starts a war without an exit plan, totally destroys the country, and the agency to rebuild it is too broke to help in this disaster. When would we have found out that 35 million was all that was left to clean up Iraq? Where will the money come from now? What will get cut so he can save face? Where will he be able to borrow the money from considering the weak dollar? How can people still consider this a capable leader?

I wonder what other agencies are on the verge of going broke? How long until people remove their political blinders and realize this man is leading us to destruction?

[Amaya]

14. List of agencies helping quake/tsunami victims

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
Oxfam America
https://secure.ga3.org/02/oxfamamerica?extra1=asian_qua ...
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
US Fund for UNICEF
333 East 38th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-FOR-KIDS
http://www.unicefusa.or
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

[Just Me]

15. Gulp. Geez.

:cry:

Those poor people!

[PATRICK]

16. Poor news, poor preparation

I expect this is a sign- if we need the sudden dramatic kind- how suicidally AWOL humanity is in its own interests. OUR media starts out- with incredible stupidity- with the the rolling body count coming only down the wire. The proportions of the tidal waves in that area and only 1000 victims???? They probably were waiting for word of what white celebs were spreading the sun tan oil on. Wait and revise. Wait and revise. Not one scintilla of rational conjecture emerges from them even from a measurable catastrophe.

How they lusted for St. Helen's, even the Ukraine. Now they got some easy stuff- coming down the wire from amateur vidcams for cluck cluck infotainment. Now its 100,000 and even some sprinkling of white rich guys.

Now an actual people's press MIGHT be interested in the failure scientists and government to pass out alerts. But vultures are not interested in the plight of the refugee crawling in the sand. especially when it ceases to move. The media is everywhere a local adjunct of government and business. You could be simple fodder for them tomorrow as they cover over the truth more effectively than a tsunami covers the land.

[Just Me]

27. In addition to the (suspect & inexcusable) failure to alert,...

,...I find it curious that a wave of U.S. military "assistance" is being sent to an area specifically designated in the PNAC. WTF is going on, here? Are the neoCONimperialists taking advantage of a tragedy? The whole mess is terribly disconcerting.

[PATRICK]

38. Both the math and the poltical agendas

are more relaible than earthquake predictors. Of course they are making moves, but never ever to benefit the ordinary people. Not our revolting ruling class elites.

[Oversea Visitor]

17. How Did Malaysia Avoid High Dead Toll

We have beachboy/lifeguards on duty at our beach resort
Red Flags warning was raise when the sea turn choppy
Lifeguard using binoculars spotted inc wave and the beach was evacuated.
Hence our death toll is only 65 and they are locals


Acheh is an area under civil unrest hence no visitor allow in that area.
The dead toll are all locals too.

[norml]

20. Are you certain that the death toll in your country was only 65?

While your safety measures may have been better than those in other countries, it's hard to believe that there were red flags, lifeguards, and warnings everywhere along your shoreline. That 65 number that you've heard is likely to be really much higher.

[Oversea Visitor]

22. Well

Our local newspaper stated 65 today most dead are fisherman.
Look at casualty for Malaysia and you get your answer.

[CreekDog]

24. Between the epicenter and Malaysia lies Sumatra

Which bore the brunt of the waves. It appears that Malaysia was not in the direct path of the waves. If Malaysia had been, the safety measures taken by lifeguards on the beach would not have prevented catastrophic loss of life, such as we have seen on Sumatra and Sri Lanka.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

61. Penang?

This is referring to the Penang area, right? I talked to someone who works with some folks in the electronics factories on Penang, and aparently the first-hand account backs up what you're saying (though the number cited was 35, rather than 65.) This from people who actually participated in search&rescue, I think.

I don't know anything about the areas outside of Penang.

[Oversea Visitor]

25. Hmmm.

You need to know more about Malaysia
Check top economy in the world think we are in the top 20 still
We raise 15 million donation in 2 days for tsunami victim this is from the public and corporation
Our Mercy team are in Sri Lanka and Indonesia since Monday to help them
We been sending aids and supply to Sri Lanka and Indonesia since MOnday
Yes we got hit high collateral damage but very little dead
Our goverment has stop clean up and search and rescue in the sea and now is deploying the manpower to Indonesia
So hmmm am I sure aaaah maybe we get more Malaysian casualty after we track down the 200 unaccounted Malaysian in Thailand Sri Lanka and India
Our population is only 25 million people
Indonesia has 220 million people so we got to be real nice to our neighbour

[CreekDog]

30. I wasn't criticizing Malaysia...just saying that...

Thankfully for Malaysia, they didn't bear the greatest force from the Tsunamis. The areas with the greatest impact, Sumatra for instance, were landmasses that stood between the Tsunamis and Malaysia. If Sumatra were not there, Malaysia's coast would have been devastated in similar fashion.

[Oversea Visitor]

35. Likely

But quality of houses also count. Our houses are mostly cement and brick. So it just like a flood on our coastal region. Dead report are mostly those get caught outside. Also wave that hit us was around 7 metres, Thailand reported 10 m Indonesia we hearing from survivor that they was hit with wave like over 15metres and that was after being hit by the quake and aftershock.

My estimation of potential dead total in Indonesia is like over easily 100,000 Present dead figures from indonesia are just area where relief team has reach. Road bridges down make it tough to reach lots of area still
Indonesia affected region coast line population estimate at 1 million people. So lets pray we dont see a 25% casualty rate

[ally_sc]

36. OverseasVisitor i will send a ray of white light your way...

bless you..it must be tragic to be in that situation, and thanks for coming out to share what is REALLY happening...you are a messenger one of the most important roles anyone can play..peace be with you and your friends and family there and abroad.

[CreekDog]

21. Lower Death Toll in Malaysia mostly b/c of geography

The waves in Aceh and in the most affected areas indicate that it was nearly impossible to escape the water. Waves in those places were 20m high. In many places, the waves seemed to cross entire islands and towns. I'm not sure how much evacuation could have been done in such a short time for these areas. Perhaps if there was 30 minutes of warning, people could have escaped to upper floors and rooftops and that would have helped somewhat.

I think Malaysia's exposure to this is somewhat less than Sri Lanka and Aceh province.

[Oversea Visitor]

32. Very True

But even then we got slam Our resort island are Penang which has the highest dead toll and Langkawi. The figure of dead was from not resort beaches. They didnt hear the resort alarm that went off to evacuated. other casualty are mostly from our mainland coastline the fishing villages.
Many houses destroy but dont ask me how come so little dead only answer I can give is somehow we are lucky.
The tsunami hit us on Sunday 26th at around 11.00 am our time

[allemand]

18. Meulaboh, Sumatra, Indonesia

[doubleplusgood]

23. 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians killed

While the MSM is falling all over themselves to show the havoc caused by the tsunamis in south Asia, too bad they won't give similar coverage to the deaths of the 100,000 innocent civilians killed by our invasion/subjugation of Iraq.

[CreekDog]

26. The 100,000 number for Iraq is not well-documented

...the way these numbers are. That Iraq number was extrapolated from a limited sample of non-representative areas. I'm not standing up for the media, but to compare this death toll number to the Iraqi number which was in a paper based on sample is somewhat specious.

[Just Me]

28. True. That number could be vastly larger than 100K. n/t

[allemand]

29. Also, Iraqis are not in such desperate need of aid.

I think the coverage is justified and necessary.

[Just Me]

31. Huh?

Gee. The savage effects of either war or acts of nature are at least comparable: both diminish basic necessities of life. Doncha' think?

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Straight Shooter]

41. It really isn't necessary to insult someone

in order to make a point.

If Just Me knew "simply nothing," then he/she would not even know the catastrophe had occurred.

[allemand]

49. I don't think there is any comparison between Iraq and the coastal areas

affected by the tsunami that is in urgent urgent need of help now.

I know so many people from Aceh and from Nias, that makes me a little bit emotional, I guess.

[aquart]

58. Did your people survive?

Have you heard anything?

[allemand]

60. I think it will take some time until communications are reestablished

For the time being, I will feel better when I know that international aid has arrived in the area.

There are some reports that Nias was less affected by the tsunami, but it was also very close to the epicenter of the earthquake. The situation in Banda Aceh seems to be simply desperate. I can only hope that they were not at home when the tsunami hit.

[allemand]

46. You seem to know as much about the catastrophe that has just happened

as you knew yesterday about bureaucracy in South and South East Asia.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1104420&mesg_id=1105907

Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses...

;-)

[Just Me]

64. No personal insult was intended,...

,...in either of my posts.

I simply acknowledge suffering no matter how it may be dealt, by man or nature.

I also acknowledge incompetence no matter what excuse is proffered, including the excuse of "bureaucracy". I might add that, my own frustration lies in the fact that our government had the capacity to press foreknowledge about this force of nature,...and failed (either negligently or intentionally) to do so.

Please, do not misinterpret my positions just because I inadvertently stepped on something sensitive to you. My comments were directed at the issues,...not at you. I sincerely care about needless suffering or loss of life.

Okay?

If you perceived my comments as diminishing the tragedy of this disaster,...I am sorry,...that was not my intention, at all.

[allemand]

67. I can agree with what you said.

:-)

I do also care about the suffering of the Iraqi people and did not want to diminish it in any way. They certainly need help as well, although of a different kind.

[Oversea Visitor]

39. In our country

We beleive since the gulfwar
more than 1.5 million Iraqies are dead. What we need is a population report and this election will give us some insight into number of people left in Iraq.

[Karenina]

50. Americans are not yet ready

to receive this information. They are fed a constant diet of lies about the numbers dead, maimed, poisoned and the horrific scope of the tragedy of their military invasion, even as their OWN CHILDREN are thrown into the meat shredder. And sadly, they continue to believe them.

[Oversea Visitor]

68. Population statistic

of Iraq is available before the Gulfwar
To conduct election we need to register voter to be fair it must be representative
Its indeed an interesting event to watch

[ally_sc]

34. being caught off guard

i am not surprised the numbers keep climbing...such a tragedy, and relly puts things in perspective for me...as to what is important life.

[PATRICK]

37. Still

doesn't it highlight the scientific and ground info ignorance of the media that the ludicrously low numbers of casualties first reported were ever a serious piece of news?

It's not news until it goes through channels. It is not a source of speculation or analysis. Nothing is. No thought, no informed knowledge, no expert resources. Just waiting at the end of the wire like for some carrier pigeon to arrive from a government capital or another news service equally brain dead.

As bad as the early warning system(which the news can not begin to dig into) is the system of information fraudulently posed as modern and global. Then the American yokel media goes into its lost animals and tragic celeb fatality mode with reports from well-heeled and gushing tourists. So much for TV journalism and the newswire.

[CreekDog]

40. The media should have explained what the terms mean...

The missing and unaccounted for numbers vary wildly and grow in the beginning and that those numbers eventually get added to the "death toll". The death toll is more related to deaths we know about, that's why it changes and grows so quickly. It's about semantics, but it's important for the media to ferret these issues out and explain them because they are key to 'understanding' the news story being presented.

But proper narrative in regards to a developing story is woefully poor among U.S. media (now rather than in the Edward R. Murrow days). The BBC does a better job at this, but still is lacking.

[Oversea Visitor]

43. I will say shits happen

1. This area was not educated about tsunami many got kill just standing there watching the water recede instead of running for their life.
2. No Tsunami warning system at all in this region cause no one think it will happen here.
3. It hit the day after christmas and on a sunday
4. Mostly everyone was on holiday.... skeleton crew and no chief
5. So you see it was just nice for a fubar what else can I say

Even in Malaysia there was not much news on the tsunami until much much later. And it was like oh got whack by big wave hmmm we just didnt connect. Until much later in the night when dead report start coming in from Thailand Sri Lanka and India
To many in Malaysia is was just a SNAFU until Monday.

[allemand]

44. Exactly my thoughts.

And the low death toll numbers that were first reported were responsible for the slow reaction of many Western governments.

Also, the waves had already hit in Sri Lanka, but they were still on their way to the Seychelles and Somalia, but nobody at CNN or BBC Worlds seemed to notice.

Today in a discussion on BBC World a doctor from Malaysia asked if it had not been possible for CNN and BBC to raise the alarm shortly after the news about the earthquake in Indonesia came in.
You don't need to have that much knowledge of geology to understand that a 8.5 seafloor earthquake (as it was reported at the time; later it was corrected to 8.9 and 9.0) can cause a massive tsunami.

[RedRogue22]

48. Actually....

I was watching a report with a tsunami expert from Oregon State who said that not all underwater earthquakes cause tsunami. A great majority of them do, and without an effective warning system, there is no way to warn people of impending doom. Even with warning systems, there would've been a lot of death and damage, but I don't think it would've been anything close to what actually happened.

[allemand]

51. That is exactly what Dr R S Dattatrayam said and thought,

the director at the Indian Meteorological Department (Seismology).

"There was a major earthquake on June 26, 1941, of a magnitude of 8.1 off the coast of the Andamans. But it did not result in any tsunamis, Dattatrayam says: ‘‘It is a question of science. We cannot issue a warning causing panic, unless we can establish it scientifically.’’"
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=61674

But he also said:
"We knew something would be hitting us".

And I think that in such a situation you have to take a risk and issue a warning that could be wrong but that could also save many many lives. The same is valid for the officials at the Thai Meteorological Department.

[RedRogue22]

54. I agree

that if it's a choice of a potentially unneccessary evacuation (although, there are risks with that as well) and risking a huge amount of lives lost because you're "just not sure" and you tell no one, I'd go with the "unneccessary" evacuation in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, realism always enters the damn picture.

[Dancing_Dave]

47. Strangely enough, thats about the death toll of the Iraq War!

A medical estimate was done, including people who died from diseases after the U.S. bombed their sewage treatment plant or WHATEVER. The "extra deaths" in the Iraq under war and occupation are around 100,000.

[pacifictiger]

56. sad but true

However, this event killed that many people in a matter of minutes. Iraq has been going on for almost two years.
And the magnitude of the the injured and homeless around the indian ocean that need immediate assistance for just water, food and medicine is in the millions.

[Pithy Cherub]

52. This redefines the word tragedy.

My disgust with the media is profound and knows no depths. The media especially US media is focused on how this affects the US and not the people we share the Earth with. May everyone get the releif they need.

Somalia and its effects in Africa can only be found on the BBC.

[aquart]

59. I've been watching foreign language reports.

I don't have cable so my regular news is scarce anyway, but I'm getting more from the foreign reports, even without understanding the language, than I have from the broadcast networks.

[Just Me]

66. That made me terribly sad, too.

Diverting attention from the tragedy,...to an auto-self-interest focus.

That really bothered me,...such incorrigible selfishness. Inexcusable.

[ZR2]

53. What is really sad

is all the attention that this gets, yet nobody seems to worry about the 1 million people that will die this year alone in Africa from a simple disease.

[RedRogue22]

55. ZR2

Now, c'mon, there are those of us who do worry about that every day. I do get your point that the general public really doesn't though. It's only large-scale tragedy that seems to get the "average" person's attention.

[Just Me]

70. True.

But, hey,...we have Barbara's boy protecting our "beautiful minds" from such realities.

Intentional ignorance is bliss, doncha' know.

[lovuian]

63. This is horrendous and I hate to say the Media is majorly Sucks

on this. I mean the Death Tolls are pathetic!!!

[hoi polloi]

69. The Weatherman must have been sleeping

I cannot imagine how educated meteorologists would not have figured that a 9 on the richter scale would cause a tidal wave of huge proportions. I think this was an inexcusable error of some weather men. I don't know how they could have been so stupid as not to have predicted such an obvious tidal wave from such a huge earthquake in the ocean.
The people should have been warned. What happened to the meterologists that knew?
what is going on here?

[Ellen Forradalom]

75. There's a lot of distance between seismologists noticing an earthquake

and turning that information into an immediate, co-ordinated international evacuation effort.

[AngryOldDem]

71. Has any disaster in history EVER come close to these numbers?

The scope of this devastation is beyond comprehension.

:cry:

[hoi polloi]

74. What gets me is

We thought the loss of 3000 people was so bad, (of course it was) in the losses of 9/11. This natural disaster of 100,000 deaths or more plus the deaths of disease soon to come, make our loss pale in comparison. Of course, ours was terrorism, and this was nature. But, although this was not due to global warming, the deaths to come from global warming will probably match this, and more.
I don't understand how the stupid meteorologists could not have figured that an earthquake of such magnitude in the ocean would have not been something worth warning the people.
That just makes no sense to me at all.

[manly]

72. the disaster and God

The world is facing the worst natural disaster in more than a century, one of unimaginable proportions. The tragedies are beyond number and beyond measure. Yet the grief engendered is not greater than the capacity humanity's heart to cope with it. We will conquer it and go on.
A question has come to my mind relevant to all this, namely: How are the religious among the survivors dealing with God's role in this?
(I'm not even sure of which religions are involved;please pardon my ignorance). What are their priests saying? How has this disaster affected the religious attitude?
Any information on these subjects would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

[hoi polloi]

73. Well no one

Yes, no one religion can address this horror.
Some self righteous religions might try, but the loss of life doesn't belong to any religion.
It just is.
And that is the terrible realization that is hard to accept.
It just is.
If you choose religion, find you choice religion and pray.
But the death is beyond any religion in my opinion.
It isn't the will of any God.
It is just empty unmitigated death for no reason but the way of nature. It could happen anywhere on planet earth. And I believe it will happen.
There is no reason to hope or pray. It just happens.
I am also very sorry.