36 replies to this topic

[nikk]

The current death toll has crossed 25,000 and is still being revised upward. I was in Chennai, in South India yesterday and from what I saw and heard, outlying areas in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldivesand Indonesia have not been able to establish contact with rescue authorities as yet - this means that the final toll is likely to be even higher....

[Divegirl412]

Breaks your heart. Yes, the death toll WILL be even higher. The news barely mentions the affected people in Somalia/ East Africa, in addition to all those in India, Asia, Maldives etc. In addition to prayers, these folks will need a lot of material help. Thank God for the generosity of Americans (and others of course).

[CaptSaaz]

Very sad... the force of nature is something we are not meant to even try to tame but to just respect. My thoughts goes out to those suffering.

[peterbj7]

I've heard that friends of mine were near Phuket - father gone, mother and three children injured. Others were in the Maldives and simply haven't been heard of, so I'm not holding out much hope. Numbers of identified dead are now almost 50000, and whole islands crammed with locals and tourists appear from the air to have no life on them. One island alone I read had 40000 on it. Expect vast numbers of dead, and probably more again in the aftermath of disease and famine. I already see it described as the worst disaster ever recorded. All we can do to help is give to the aid agencies, and I think those of us who can should be thinking in the thousands of dollars, not whatever we can spare without upsetting our personal budgetting.

If necessary we should petition our governments to ramp up what they are doing. Countries like the USA, UK and all the EU, China, Russia, etc. should relocate their armed forces and resources to work in the region. And aid needs to be NOW - next week will be too late for millions of people.

[AliKat]

First we need permission from those countries, particularly to send in our Armed Forces.

There is a lot of aid already there, ore ready to go in. Once it gets there, though, is only half the battle. Roads are washed out, it is impossible to get to many remote areas. So getting the aid to the people who need it is not going to be easy.

I just spent 14 hours in our Joint Operations Center. A lot is being done as fast as it can be. Unfortunately, disease is going to be a very big problem.

[peterbj7]

I read in one of the reports that aid from the USA so far is 10 times the aid from the whole of the EU. If true it makes me ashamed to be a European.

My comment about sending in armed forces was their resources, and I had in mind particularly helicopters. I read of one island that is inaccessible by air as the airstrip was destroyed, and is a long way from anywhere by boat. Military ships and helicopters could do a lot of good.

[ScubaHawk]

I've got friends in Thailand and in news departments around the world who feed me updates. The info I've been getting puts the current death toll at close to 60,000. With the worst to come from Cholera, fecal chloroform, diarrhea, malaria, etc . . . And the long term effects of starvation and displacement. This disaster looks to be of epic proportions. Aid is starting to arrive from the U.S. - although out bias against non-western or non-stratigic countries seems to be showing.

[WreckWench]

Aid is starting to arrive from the U.S. - although our bias against non-western or non-stratigic countries seems to be showing.

Hey SH...I don't think we can make that statement until its all said and done. I too have seen reports showing 10 to 1 the aid from the US vice Europe. Aid should arrive from all countries to help in these kinds of disasters...not just the US.

[maninthesea]

Big disaster!
I can tell you the US is allready using the military for aid. We have a very busy Airforce runway with a lot more cargo planes in the last couple of days. Also there were 3 "Gator Freightor's" (amphibious assault carrers) in port here in Guam expecting to spend new years eve. They left yesterday after buying every chainsaw skill saw generator and other construction tool and material they could get their hands on. They were reportedly heading to Sri Lanka.
I have two friends in Thailand. The one in bankock seems unaffected. The other owns a dive shop in Krabi and I have been getting copies of their e-mails organizing relief supplies for a hospital so I know he is OK.
I have other friends on vacation in Singapore, Bali and Porta Galara, I think those are pretty much out of harms way but until they return, who knows.
In case anyone is wondering Guam is not succeptable to tsunami's due to the geography. We had an 8.1 a few years back and the only tsunami effect was one guy in a pickup was washed out into the bay. He climbed out and waded back in.

Cheers
Jim

[WreckWench]

Thanks for the update Jim...and even more importantly that YOU were not involved!

[AliKat]

Oh, yea, forgot one of our ships was going to raid Guam for every building supply they could get their hands on. Sounds like they did just that. What a boost to Guam's economy. Hope no one there had any home improvement projects planned soon. Could be awhile before you guys get restocked.

I was living on Guam when that big quake hit. At the time, I was climbing Mt Fuji, but I remember coming back to the mess and no power and no water. I lived on the 9th floor of a 9 story tower (used to be Nimitz Towers, I think its called something else now). The damage got worse as you went up by floor. And I walked all 9 flights with 2 suitcases in a pitch black stairwell. My kitty sitter said he looked out my patio door and watched the landscape sway in front of him. It hit one year and 10 days after Omar, a really bad typhoon (although Guam has had a couple worse since then). I think the only death related to that quake was a slight head injury. The person died in a car accident on their way to the hospital to get the head injury checked after the quake.

[maninthesea]

Oh, yea, forgot one of our ships was going to raid Guam for every building supply they could get their hands on. Sounds like they did just that. What a boost to Guam's economy. Hope no one there had any home improvement projects planned soon. Could be awhile before you guys get restocked.

Perhaps you forgot that we are NEVER fully stocked

I was living on Guam when that big quake hit. At the time, I was climbing Mt Fuji, but I remember coming back to the mess and no power and no water. I lived on the 9th floor of a 9 story tower (used to be Nimitz Towers, I think its called something else now). The damage got worse as you went up by floor. And I walked all 9 flights with 2 suitcases in a pitch black stairwell. My kitty sitter said he looked out my patio door and watched the landscape sway in front of him. It hit one year and 10 days after Omar, a really bad typhoon (although Guam has had a couple worse since then). I think the only death related to that quake was a slight head injury. The person died in a car accident on their way to the hospital to get the head injury checked after the quake.

I arrived here 2 months before Omar. I was on a flyaway job in Korea for it. Then we had four more typhoons by the end of the year. I just figured that was normal for Typhoon Season. I was on another flyaway for the big quake. I came home to a mess also(27" TV landed on the floor and imploded.

Although it was probably a boost to some of the econemy I doubt if it replaces a few thousand sailors and marines celibrating new years

Thanks for the update Jim...and even more importantly that YOU were not involved!

So far I've held my own in natural disasters

Cheers Jim

PS I just found the most amusing thing. Highlight the as if you were going to copy it. It completly changes its expression!

[BradfordNC]

I read in one of the reports that aid from the USA so far is 10 times the aid from the whole of the EU.  If true it makes me ashamed to be a European.

no offense to ya Peter, but if this is actually a surprise to you, you've been living in a shoebox for the last few decades.

the US has been the biggest contributor to humanitarian relief efforts for the last 50 years.


this is not the first time we have sent aid for disaster relief in the Indian Ocean. a large number of the countries have extremely large muslim populations, but you won't see the US receive credit for that on "the street".

ok censors, go to work

death toll this morning crossed over 76,000. :-(

on an interesting side note, saw the news ticker say something about some scuba divers from the US who were in Thailand and were actually on a dive when the wave hit.

their dive started before the tsunami, and they had no idea it was going on, and surfaced to find all the mayhem.
talk about luck.

[Walter]

Brad,

There's nothing here to censor.

[ScubaHawk]

Hey SH...I don't think we can make that statement until its all said and done. I too have seen reports showing 10 to 1 the aid from the US vice Europe. Aid should arrive from all countries to help in these kinds of disasters...not just the US.

Although it appears the Bush had to be prodded a bit, I was mainly referring to the natural tendency in the press to have a Euro-centric bias. With the exception of a few cities with a high immigrant population, I have found that most of America will know more about the daily life of the British Royal Family than natural disasters in Asia, or wholesale slaughter in S. Africa.
If 1000 people died in a European earthquake, the President would have paused his vacation long enough to speak publicly about the tragedy. With the toll near 100,000 in Asia, we hear about the President's concerns through spokesmen. The flood in California, with 3 dead, is now a lead story on some stations. The tsunami has been bumped to upgrade status.
It's a sad fact but Asia is too far and too foreign for your average American to care.