« The Thinking Blog | Main | Some Predict Tsunami Death Toll Over 400,000 »
Earthquake-Tsunami Catastrophe Toll at 114,000
The death toll from last weekend's earthquake-tsunami catastrophe rose to more than 114,000 on Thursday as Indonesia uncovered more and more dead from ravaged Sumatra island, where pilots dropped food to remote villages still unreachable by rescue workers. A false alarm that new killer waves were about to hit sparked panic in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. - Associated Press
Individuals, businesses, organizations and governments are responding. A surge in both private and government donations in wealthy nations brought to over 350 million dollars the funds raised or pledged for relief in Asian countries swept by tidal waves that killed at least 118,000 people. [ChannelNewsAsia via Adrian Warnock] In my opinion, giving has been clouded and negatively politicized by early criticism of the US by the UN and a rush to compare numbers by the press without checking the facts. Steven Taylor provides an interesting look at monetary relief efforts in a post called On the Politics of Contributions. He notes, "According to a statement I read from SecState Powell, US aid will easily cap $1 billion."
Unfortunately, many more are unaccounted for and thousands are at risk due to disease. Prayer and action are called for and the Evangelical Outpost helps put the disaster in perspective and provides numerous relief organizations that need assistance.
The Presbyterian Church in America which I'm affiliated with has established a disaster relief effort through its Mission to the World. In an effort to comfort these hurting ones and help them survive and rebuild, the PCA through Mission to the World (MTW) will focus our initial efforts on one of the areas hit most severely, Colombo, Sri Lanka, where we have nationals in place whose plans are already in motion. It is also possible that we may be able to expand into other hardhit countries.
Posted by tim at December 30, 2004 10:36 AM
- South Asia Marks Tsunami One Month Anniversary - Remembering 447 Thousand - Jan 26, 2005
- General Public Gives Majority of Red CrossTsunami Donations - Jan 26, 2005
- Tsunami toll rises above 165,000 - Jan 07, 2005
- Tsunami Death Toll Could Double Due to Hunger, Disease - Jan 05, 2005
- Tsunami Cost Estimated Over $15 Billion - Jan 05, 2005
- Tsunami Survivors at Risk of Disease and Malnutrituion - Jan 03, 2005
- Aiding Tsunami Victims - Jan 03, 2005
- Tsunami Updates - Donations Top $2 Billion - Jan 01, 2005
- Some Predict Tsunami Death Toll Over 400,000 - Dec 30, 2004
- Tsunami Toll Above 55,000, More Relief Needed - Dec 28, 2004
Site map