Sad News for the global traveling Community; earthquake in Thailand
Dec 28th, 2004, 11:48 AM
#41
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I am very sad. I have been to Sri Lanka, staying at the famed Galle Face Hotel in Colombo. I have very fond memories of the wonderful, helpful, and gracious people of Sri Lanka.
It is almost Kafkaesque to realize that many had a two-hour notice of the tsunami, yet people were not warned to evacuate coastal areas. Someone was asleep at the wheel.
It is almost Kafkaesque to realize that many had a two-hour notice of the tsunami, yet people were not warned to evacuate coastal areas. Someone was asleep at the wheel.
Dec 29th, 2004, 02:38 AM
#42
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"It is almost Kafkaesque to realize that many had a two-hour notice of the tsunami, yet people were not warned to evacuate coastal areas. Someone was asleep at the wheel"
It seems that the folks at the Tsunami
Center in Hawaii didnt have a number to call to warn people. Have they never heard of Reuters? Don't the stricken countries have embassies in Washington?
It boggles the mind!
It seems that the folks at the Tsunami
Center in Hawaii didnt have a number to call to warn people. Have they never heard of Reuters? Don't the stricken countries have embassies in Washington?
It boggles the mind!
Dec 29th, 2004, 03:55 AM
#44
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/...20041229a1.htm
". . . In the Pacific Ocean, a tsunami warning center was created in Hawaii following the 1960 Chilean earthquake. Warnings are issued on the basis of seismic waves recorded in Pacific Rim countries, which maintain an extensive observation network.
By contrast, countries facing the Indian Ocean are ill-prepared for tsunamis. They probably have observation facilities, but none appears to have any working network for transmitting tsunami information to residents, such as disaster hot lines. Nor do they appear to have adequate programs, including ready-to-use guidelines for evacuation, to enhance public awareness of tsunamis.
A tsunami travels very fast. The waves generated by the Chilean quake reached Japanese shores in just 24 hours, leaving 142 people dead or missing. Simple arithmetic shows that the tsunami raced a distance of about 17,000 km at 700 kph -- about the same speed as a jetliner. The latest tsunami, unleashed by a 9.0-magnitude temblor that occurred off Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, is estimated to have reached Sri Lanka in about two hours. . . "
". . . In the Pacific Ocean, a tsunami warning center was created in Hawaii following the 1960 Chilean earthquake. Warnings are issued on the basis of seismic waves recorded in Pacific Rim countries, which maintain an extensive observation network.
By contrast, countries facing the Indian Ocean are ill-prepared for tsunamis. They probably have observation facilities, but none appears to have any working network for transmitting tsunami information to residents, such as disaster hot lines. Nor do they appear to have adequate programs, including ready-to-use guidelines for evacuation, to enhance public awareness of tsunamis.
A tsunami travels very fast. The waves generated by the Chilean quake reached Japanese shores in just 24 hours, leaving 142 people dead or missing. Simple arithmetic shows that the tsunami raced a distance of about 17,000 km at 700 kph -- about the same speed as a jetliner. The latest tsunami, unleashed by a 9.0-magnitude temblor that occurred off Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, is estimated to have reached Sri Lanka in about two hours. . . "
Dec 29th, 2004, 01:38 PM
#47
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Anyone wishing to donate may want to consider doing so through www.networkforgood.org as another option. It is easy to do. You choose the organization and purpose of the donation. They charge a very small fee for credit cards.
Dec 30th, 2004, 11:30 AM
#48
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The magnitude of the catastrophe increases hourly. It is now reported that over 120,000 lost their lives. Thousands more are suffering and need basic life neccessities -- food, water, medicines. Amazon.com has collected over $5MM for the American Red Cross so far. We have the luxury of an easy life. Give a little.
http://www.amazon.com
Dec 31st, 2004, 04:33 AM
#50
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Just wondering...if you donate through another compnay, like Amazon, wouldn't some of what you give go to pay an additional service fee by the compnay processing the transaction? (That's the way it works if you order from various mail order companies through a site operated by some charity, or if you order from Amazon via a link on someone's private travel website, for example.) Or is the deal that Amazon is paying the credit card company fees?
Dec 31st, 2004, 09:20 AM
#51
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The NY Times has an in-depth article today about the lack of warning systems for the Indian Ocean region.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/international/
worldspecial4/31wave.html?pagewanted=6&ei=5094&en
=41eeabf20494d0e5&hp&ex=1104555600&par tner=homepage
It appears it was a United Nations panel which was urged to take the lead just last year:
----------------------------------
"During the 1990's, an obscure United Nations group, the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific, periodically considered the extension of tsunami alert systems to parts of the globe outside the Pacific, including the Caribbean and Indian Ocean.
At a meeting of the group in Lima, Peru, in September 1997, for example, its members had considered proposals to expand the network to the Indian Ocean, particularly because of Indonesia's tectonic activity. Nothing concrete happened.
Among the scientists who kept up a restrained but insistent pressure was Dr. Phil Cummins, a seismologist with Australia's geosciences agency. He continued to gather and present evidence that an Indian Ocean tsunami was inevitable...
He made his case in October 2003, at a meeting of the...group in Wellington, New Zealand, when he pushed for formal expansion of the international network into the Indian Ocean.
They rebuffed him, saying, in the stiff language of meeting minutes, that any such expansion could occur only if an overarching governing body dealing in global oceanographic issues formally redefined its "terms of reference."
In the meantime, it voted to establish "a sessional working group to prepare a recommendation to establish an intersessional working group that will study the establishment of a regional warning system for the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean."
----------------------------------
Intrepid: Isn't it rather premature to criticize the quality of the U.S. response to this tragedy? Aid efforts are only beginning and, I'm certain, will increase exponentially as logistics are developed to work with local officials. And that's just the official response...private fundraising appears to be phenominal in response to this incomprehensible loss of life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/31/international/
worldspecial4/31wave.html?pagewanted=6&ei=5094&en
=41eeabf20494d0e5&hp&ex=1104555600&par tner=homepage
It appears it was a United Nations panel which was urged to take the lead just last year:
----------------------------------
"During the 1990's, an obscure United Nations group, the International Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Pacific, periodically considered the extension of tsunami alert systems to parts of the globe outside the Pacific, including the Caribbean and Indian Ocean.
At a meeting of the group in Lima, Peru, in September 1997, for example, its members had considered proposals to expand the network to the Indian Ocean, particularly because of Indonesia's tectonic activity. Nothing concrete happened.
Among the scientists who kept up a restrained but insistent pressure was Dr. Phil Cummins, a seismologist with Australia's geosciences agency. He continued to gather and present evidence that an Indian Ocean tsunami was inevitable...
He made his case in October 2003, at a meeting of the...group in Wellington, New Zealand, when he pushed for formal expansion of the international network into the Indian Ocean.
They rebuffed him, saying, in the stiff language of meeting minutes, that any such expansion could occur only if an overarching governing body dealing in global oceanographic issues formally redefined its "terms of reference."
In the meantime, it voted to establish "a sessional working group to prepare a recommendation to establish an intersessional working group that will study the establishment of a regional warning system for the Southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean."
----------------------------------
Intrepid: Isn't it rather premature to criticize the quality of the U.S. response to this tragedy? Aid efforts are only beginning and, I'm certain, will increase exponentially as logistics are developed to work with local officials. And that's just the official response...private fundraising appears to be phenominal in response to this incomprehensible loss of life.
Dec 31st, 2004, 09:43 AM
#52
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By the way, the U.S. just pledged $350 million in aid. Per the Washington Post it's not yet clear whether that is in addition to the initial pledge of $35 million. And relief efforts are still being assessed.
Dec 31st, 2004, 09:56 AM
#53
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Dont jump on me or take this wrong but I gave to the organization Americare so that the countries especially those with the Muslim populations will see that America does care. Since America takes so much blame for everything we do I would like people to see that the general population does care and are generous.
Jan 1st, 2005, 03:52 PM
#57
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Reposting this from another thread:
Message: Some people who are good at web design set this up to help out. It is intended to become a place where people can share info re missing family and friends, re conditions in the affected areas, etc. I don't really know too much about it, so can't give you further details, but you may find that it's just self-explanatory. Here's the website:
http://www.soopaid.org/
If you have questions about the above site, you can contact the author of this post on another forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/itali...ages?msg=901.1
Message: Some people who are good at web design set this up to help out. It is intended to become a place where people can share info re missing family and friends, re conditions in the affected areas, etc. I don't really know too much about it, so can't give you further details, but you may find that it's just self-explanatory. Here's the website:
http://www.soopaid.org/
If you have questions about the above site, you can contact the author of this post on another forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/itali...ages?msg=901.1
Jan 5th, 2005, 01:45 PM
#58
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crossreferencing: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34548415
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