Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

tsunami

I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the recent horrible tragedy in southeast Asia, where, on the coasts, tens of thousands of people (the body count keeps rising) died as a result of tidal waves after a massive earthquake. I just cannot fathom the notion of that many people dying, just like that.

Compounding that is the frustration that, had they been warned in time, a good number of people might have been saved.

The real tragedy, many experts acknowledged yesterday, is that thousands of lives in countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Thailand could have been saved if an early warning system similar to one that exists for the Pacific Ocean had been in place. U.S. officials said that they wanted to warn the countries but that there was no mechanism to do so.

The tsunamis’ impact in the hardest-hit countries occurred about two hours after the underwater earthquake: If authorities had had the opportunity to move people even a few hundred yards inland, many people would have been saved, Bernard said.

(Washington Post: “Tsunamis’ Toll Might Have Been Lessened” - 12/27/04)

In addition to the lack of early warning systems, many of the affected areas also lack any kind of adequate rescue/recovery resources. (For example, this personal account from someone in Madras, India, on yesterday’s edition of NPR’s All Things Considered.) If you’re so inclined, WP has a list of organizations accepting donations for relief efforts.