Asia's leaders may ask the U.S. for help setting up the Indian Ocean's first tsunami warning system, after the Dec. 26 earthquake of magnitude 9 triggered giant waves from Thailand to Somalia, destroying everything in its path to leave about 5 million people homeless.
``We need the U.S. government's help for the installation of an early tsunami warning system,'' Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters, a day before he meets U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Florida Governor Jeb Bush tomorrow in Bangkok as they start their four-day trip to the region.
Indonesia raised its death toll by a fifth to more than 94,000 as rescuers reached remote areas in Aceh province for the first time. Aid began to reach the survivors as ships, planes and helicopters bearing food, clothing, clean water and medicines converged on Indonesia and other countries.
U.S. Marines scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka this week will boost relief efforts by airlifting clean water, food and medicine to coastal communities in the Asian nation second-hardest hit nation. Almost 30,000 Sri Lankans perished in the giant waves, with more than 600,000 homeless.
``They're helpless,'' said M.B. Harasgama, 74, a teacher who organized the distribution of supplies donated by Sri Lankans unaffected by tsunamis which struck the island more than a week ago. ``They lost everything and have to begin their lives.''
No Warning
Indonesia and Sri Lanka, where Powell and Bush are also scheduled to visit, were the two countries worst affected Thaksin, whose country's death toll passed 5,000 today, said the lack of warning that giant waves were about to hit coastal areas contributed to the high death toll.
``The country must have the system at any cost because damage was enormous without it,'' he told reporters.
The installation of an Indian Ocean warning system will be on the agenda when Powell and Bush meet world leaders at a tsunami summit in Jakarta on Jan. 6, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda told MetroTV in Jakarta yesterday. Coordinating more than $2 billion dollars in aid pledged to relief efforts and possible debt restructuring for affected countries will also be discussed, he said.
Thailand's Deaths
Thailand's death toll from tsunamis that hit the nation's six southern coastal provinces rose to 5,046 today. About half of the deaths have been overseas tourists, the Disaster Prevention Department said yesterday. About 3,810 people remain missing and 8,457 were injured, the department said.
Thaksin said the Thai government doesn't want financial aid from foreign donors because it can fund relief and reconstruction with its own money and domestic donations.
Powell and Bush, brother of President George W. Bush, left for Asia yesterday. They will participate in the summit to be hosted by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that will include Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other world leaders. Thaksin will send his Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to the summit.
The prime ministers of Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea have said they will attend. United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan also will be there.
Need Organization
Annan will visit Aceh on Jan. 7 as well as other regions hit by the tsunami, including Sri Lanka, said United Nations emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland.
``I think it's great that they're getting together because there are so many parties on the bandwagon now,'' said John Crawford, a member of the council for the Hong Kong Committee of Unicef, the United Nations children's fund. ``Money is one thing, but you have to get the aid on the ground, and that requires organization.''
At least 9,451 people died in India in four states and the Andaman and Nicobar islands, with at least 5,511 people still missing, a government official said today.
More than 386,000 people have taken shelter in at least 551 camps that have been set up, said V.P. Pasrija, a consultant at India's National Disaster Management Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Monsoon Rains
Hampering efforts of relief agencies are monsoon rains, washed-out roads, flattened infrastructure and destroyed communications facilities.
The death toll may rise as monsoon rains threaten to create breeding conditions for mosquitoes, which can spread malaria and dengue fever, doctors said. The threat of disease is being compounded by the decomposition of unburied bodies.
``There were about 1,500 bodies but not enough space in the mortuary,'' said K.G. Krishantha, 26, a volunteer relief worker standing outside Karapatiya General Hospital where injured tsunami victims are treated. ``Bodies were piled outside.''
The Asian Development Bank today pledged up to $325 million in aid to be made immediately available to help finance reconstruction and rehabilitation work after receiving requests from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives, the agency said in an e- mailed statement.
``This is an unprecedented disaster and we are moving quickly to assist these countries in their hour of need,'' said bank President Tadao Chino in the statement.
Aid Pledged
Japan is the biggest donor nation of the 44 that have promised aid, pledging $500 million. The U.S. has promised $350 million, the U.K. $96 million and Sweden $75 million. Canada doubled its aid promise to $80 million yesterday. China increased its contribution 23-fold to $60 million, and Taiwan upped its pledge 10-fold to $50 million. The list of donations took up 16 pages single-spaced, Egeland said.
The overall number of dead from the quake and tsunamis would make the Asia quake the worst natural disaster since the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan, China, that killed more than 250,000 people. Confirmed deaths reported by countries affected by tsunamis totaled 138,940 at 6 p.m. in Hong Kong, with about 16,000 listed as missing, according to a compilation of government reports by Bloomberg News.
World Bank James Wolfensohn said on ABC's ``This Week'' program in the U.S. that the aid pledged so far will go to ``immediate reconstruction needs. And after that, there will be a great deal more coming.''
The UN must provide food to 1.8 million people in areas affected by the disaster, Egeland said. That figure includes 700,000 people in Sri Lanka and 1 million in Indonesia.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Soraya Permatasari in Jakarta at soraya@bloomberg.net
Sri Jegarajah in Singapore at sjegarajah@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sue Hill in Hong Kong at shill6@bloomberg.net
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