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Tsunami Toll Above 55,000, More Relief Needed

AFP News - Logistical problems hampered a massive humanitarian relief operation along Asia's devastated shores as the death toll from a huge earthquake and killer tidal waves surged past 55,000. With the scale of the catastrophe rapidly unfolding, the confirmed number of dead in 10 countries shot up to 55,175, with Indonesia's Aceh province accounting for half of those killed, or 27,174.

I can't recall a worse tragedy in recent history. Withough adequate relief thousands more are in danger due to disease. ABC News reports,

The apocalyptic destruction caused by the wave dwarfed the efforts of governments and relief agencies as they turned from rescuing survivors to trying to care for millions of homeless, increasingly threatened by disease amid the rotting corpses.

"Why did you do this to us, God?" wailed an old woman in a devastated fishing village in southern India's Tamil Nadu state. "What did we do to upset you? This is worse than death."

"The enormity of the disaster is unbelievable," said Bekele Geleta, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Southeast Asia.

Although the U.S. has taken immediate relief action, the $15 million that was pledged has been looked upon as "stingy" by the UN. On this issue Captain Ed comments, "This is a typical European response, where people who want to 'give more' do so by confiscating other people's money. In fact, Americans are among the least-stingy people in the world -- once you count private donations."

Private giving is a far more efficient method of monetary relief because it lacks the governmental bureaucracy and political overhead associated with relief funds based upon taxation. Individuals are more motivated to give directly to areas of need than to pay their taxes and allow government officials, who at times are limited by their own personal agendas, to distribute their "donations".

Update: Mod-Blog cites a Reuters article showing that the U.S. is comparably one of the most generous nations.

Speaking of relief efforts, there is now a Tsunami blog (hat tip: Donald Sensing) that lists numerous organizations that provide aid on the basis of charitable contributions.

Consider the Salvation Army's donation page.

Update: More on relief efforts by AFP:

The world's biggest-ever aid operation got into gear to help Asian countries stricken by tsunamis that smashed coastal towns and left misery and the risk of disease in their wake.

The unprecedented effort involved neighbouring Asian states, European countries, the United States and international organisations, as well as countless people offering whatever individual help they could.

Updates:

Asia Disaster Yields Its Dead, Toll at 59,000

Posted by tim at December 28, 2004 10:55 AM

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