Tropical Cyclone killed 2200 people

[treestar]

Over 2,200 die in Bangladesh cyclone By PARVEEN AHMED, Associated Press Writer

The death toll from a cyclone that devastated Bangladesh has surpassed 2,200, officials said Sunday, while rescuers struggled through blocked paths to reach hundreds of thousands of survivors awaiting aid in wrecked homes and flooded fields.

The government deployed military helicopters, naval ships and thousands of troops to join international agencies and local officials in the rescue mission following Tropical Cyclone Sidr. The U.S. and other countries also offered assistance.

At least 2,206 people have died since the storm struck Bangladesh on Thursday, said Selina Shahid of the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. The toll could rise still higher as more information comes in from battered regions.

Disaster Management Secretary Aiyub Bhuiyan met Sunday with representatives from the United Nations and international aid groups to discuss the massive relief effort.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071118/ap_on_re_as/bangladesh_cyclone

Further down, this paragraph was interesting:

Several countries pledged to help.

The U.S. government has provided $2.1 million in initial emergency relief, White House press secretary Dana Perino said, noting that President Bush offered condolences to victims.

She said that the ships USS Essex and the USS Kearsage were en route to Bangladesh to help with relief operations, and that the U.S. would airlift 35 tons of non-food items such as plastic sheeting and hygiene kits.

The United Nations released $7 million, while the German government offered $731,000. The European Union released $2.2 million, and British officials said they would give $5 million.

Odd how the EU's amount seems to be almost an intentional one-up on the U.S. And the British were quite generous, in that they give the most and had already given through the EU.

Though of course the US could have done much more if we weren't wasting so much money destroying Iraq.

[malaise]

1. That's so far

I feel so sorry for the poor people of Bangladesh - over one million are homeless now.

[KamaAina]

2. Good thing we live in a developed country where things like that don't happen

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: