Giant Tsunami in Indian Ocean: 120000+ Dead

[whabang]

The authorities did get a warning, but they chose not to follow it, because it might harm tourism. :pissed:
The death toll is now over 40000.

[blobrana]

Hum,
I think most geostationary survey satellites couldn’t actually pick up the small height differences in the sea - they `re mostly designed to look at land usage.
However, I managed to find a NOAA QuickTime movie of the event
here

[cecilia]

Minion wrote:
This is an absolutely monumental disaster and my thoughts are with the dead and their relatives.
Hard to believe that something over 7 times more of a disaster than 9/11 could happen but it has :-(

actually, it's NOT hard to believe there are and have been more disasters than 9-11.

there have been volcanic explosions that have wiped out species......a long time ago, but still

the difference is that I can respect "mother nature". one has to.

but i will never respect a bunch of idiots who think their petty concerns are more important than anyone elses and that justifies harming people. and I'll never respect other idiots thinking that gives them the excuse to start wars.

none of these persons understand the enormity of nature, and that life is a one time deal. lose it and you lose forever.

[whabang]

JFC!!! The death toll is now over 55000! :-(

[ajk]

Animation of the wave (probably similar to the .mov posted earlier, wasn't able to watch that).

[zudobug]

UN Warns of Huge Bill as Tsunami Toll Mounts [Scotsman.com]

The cost of rescues and reconstruction is going to cost billions of dollars!

The US has given $35 million dollars in aid (the republicans spent $240 million on advertising alone in the run-up to the elections.) They were just gonna give $15 million until the UN called them stingy. And good old Blighty has forked out a whopping £15 million.

These might seem like vast sums of money to you and me but on a global scale it really is peanuts. Nothing near the billions needed which could easily be afforded. It shows how much our governments really care about people.

-zudo

[cecilia]

various movies, stills, etc.

[zudobug]

An update to my earlier post...

Britons Donate to Disaster Appeal on 'Unprecedented' Scale

After our governments shockingly poor gesture of aid to the tune of £15 million, many Britons were unsatisfied and we have put our hands in our pockets and raised a further £22 million. Showing the governments donation up for what it was, they have had to react and be a tiny weenie bit more generous - the new figure from new labour is £50 million.

hmm.

I'm still not particularly satisfied with this. We could easily do better. I have an idea, lets ditch the ID card and personal information database idea that most people don't really want (or shouldn't if they do ;-) ) which is going to cost countless billions and give the kind of aid that is really needed. A hundred times what we've raised so far would be more like it. And the US could be even less "stingy" if it really wanted to too.

-zudo

[that_punk_guy]

QuikSanz wrote:

"man is nothing put up against mother nature"

I'm sure somebody will try to link this with man made global warming. I can hardley wait to hear this spin.

Get over that and have some f**king respect.

[QuikSanz]

@ zudobug,

"The US has given $35 million dollars in aid (the republicans spent $240 million on advertising alone in the run-up to the elections."

 1) The $240 million did not come from the government.

 2) The $35 million is just the first in the pipeline. OUR planes need to be scheduled on pace. Where are yours?

 3) Our government and people will deliver more than any 2 or 3 other countries combined.

 4) That number is only what is going thru the decrepid UN. With their track record, I wouldn't want to go thru them either. They, ahem, misplace more money than my government.

Chris

[QuikSanz]

@ that_punk_guy,

So sorry old boy. Attacking my compasion won't cut it. I am in amazment at what happened. It can happen here where I live, west coast US. What I do despise are people trying to increase their credibility on others suffering. So, read it another way. Try looking at it from a 90 degree perspective.

Chris

[Wilse]

QuikSanz wrote:
@ that_punk_guy,

So sorry old boy. Attacking my compasion won't cut it. ..... What I do despise are people trying to increase their credibility on others suffering.

And who would that be?
I only see one person doing that in this thread.

[QuikSanz]

@ Wilse,

Lets start with those who are throwing harpoons at us because "we're stingy"

Chris

[cecilia]

can we PLEASE not make this a pissing contest about who is more "generous", less stingy, etc , ad nauseum.

there's a mindboggling amount of misery on the other side of the earth. let's stay focused.

[zudobug]

I take it I'm the guy wielding harpoons in Chris' mind. I believe this to be either another case of me being seen to be American-people-bashing when in fact I only intend (rightly or wrongly) to bash the American government, or a case of patriotism created resentment because I *am* bashing the great, powerful and unquestionable Bush government. Either way I couldn't care less and make no apologies.

If this dude is right and the US (government) are going to be much more favourable to the people in desperate need then I am all for it and I salute them for it. And I have read about and acknowledge the vast sums of money being raised by American people and I salute them too.

Seeing as this is such a touchy subject I'll let it drop. But I stand by what I have said no matter how others will try yet again to distort me.

[edit]Whoops, forgot the important bit:

My comment about the US (government not people) was an after-thought and I wish I hadn't bothered making it now. I'm more concerned with our government being "stingy". So I guess I'm antiUK too. I'm anti-myself. It sux.[/edit]

-zudo

[QuikSanz]

@ cecilia,

Yes Ma'am, just getting tired of all the bashing.

Chris