Asian Earthquake and Tsunami

[Karthik]

As many of you may have heard, there was massive earthquake of the coast of Indonesia which spawned a Tsunami. Over 20,000 people are dead and over 250,000 are homeless in 10 countries.

CNN report on the quake

I have many family members who live in Madras, India, one of the worst hit cities. Luckily they are all safe, but the same cannot be said for many of their friends.

For those who are interested in helping, here's a list of international aid organizations who are taking donations to help with the rescue and relief operation.

Aid groups accepting donations for victims

As always, the American Red Cross is always looking for donations as well.

www.redcross.org

Thanks.

[Will Hanashiro]

its a tragedy isn't it? i couldn't formulate any thought after i first read that article... as my mind kinda went numb. i have a close friend from school who lost his grandparents in India.

please if you haven't done so already, read up on what happened, the CNN article is good, and there are plenty of other articles everywhere right now. ALSO, if you can, lets lend a helping hand... they're asking for basically the basics right now (not just money), such as CLOTHES and CANNED GOODS.

thanks Karthik for bringing up this recent happening.

[Bharat Nain]

Madras is my home town, and I know over 100 people over there. As of yet, I havent heard from all of them, but all I can do is pray for their[and the people affected by this tragedy] well-being. Some of them lived by the sea, and no news from them yet.

[Ashley Weed]

I have been following the BBC news, etc. from the very beginning. All of it is unbelievably tragic. My prayers and wishes out to all of you, and all of those many miles away from us here.

[Joshua May]

This is a terrible tragedy. As of yet, the confirmed death toll is 44,000, completely aweful.

[Karthik1]

I am from further north Hyderabad, but I have friends and some relatives that live in Madras. I have been there a few times, I will never forget that place.

This is a time when we need to come together and help our brothers and sisters in south east Asia.

[Erin Rapacki]

My Uncle, Aunt, and cousin live in Bangkok (my Uncle manages a chemical plant over there). They had planned on going to Phuket for New Years.

I'm really glad the earthquake didn't happen only a few days later

[Elgin Clock]

Now would be a good time to release a water purification system to fight the disease that will soon come with the destruction and devastation the Earthquake/Tsunami caused the water utilities in the countries affected..

<hint hint>

Slingshot...

[bigqueue]

Thank you for this message...I was thinking the same thing, and as of this moment, the disaster toll is even higher.

They are talking about 77,000 confirmed dead, with thoughts of that number going over 100,000.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ts_nm/quake_dc

The article I read this morning also talked about 5 million people in need of assistance. (injuries, physical displacement of houses, water supplies, electricity disrupted, etc...)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../quake_need_dc

Just to put things in perspective, 100,000 people would be every single person in the city of Nashua, NH where Team811 comes from. (my First team)

To put the 5 millin people affected in perdpective, the entire state of NH has a little over 1 million people. (Massachusetts has only 10 million people total...if I recall, California has something like 35 million....roughtly 14% of California population)

I know that First is not a disaster relief organization, but each of us and our teams might think of organizing some sort of small effort together with our local help organizations. (Red Cross, Religious Aid groups, etc....)

Every little bit helps, and it all adds up!

-Quentin

Originally Posted by Karthik

As many of you may have heard, there was massive earthquake of the coast of Indonesia which spawned a Tsunami. Over 20,000 people are dead and over 250,000 are homeless in 10 countries.

CNN report on the quake

I have many family members who live in Madras, India, one of the worst hit cities. Luckily they are all safe, but the same cannot be said for many of their friends.

For those who are interested in helping, here's a list of international aid organizations who are taking donations to help with the rescue and relief operation.

Aid groups accepting donations for victims

As always, the American Red Cross is always looking for donations as well.

www.redcross.org

Thanks.

[Adam Y.]

Now would be a good time to release a water purification system to fight the disease that will soon come with the destruction and devastation the Earthquake/Tsunami caused the water utilities in the countries affected..

Don't worry. I was watching the news and aparently they are sending a water purification system out all ready. You put a packet into contaminated water and mix it a bit. Then you wait for the silt to settle out and then you have fresh water.

[JoeXIII'007]

What can describe it? It was horrific.

Did anyone see the latest first-person POV footage of it on MSNBC's COUNTDOWN: w/Keith Olberman last night? It could probably help describe how horrific it was.

I couldn't find it on Olbermann's blog, but if you do find it on the web, please post.

[David Kelly]

A couple of my co-workers I deal with on a daily basis are stationed in both Thailand and Malaysia. I don't return to work until 3 Jan, 2005 and I haven't heard from them or any of my immediate co-workers in Indy.

We can only hope and pray for the best.

Dean Kamen should send over that invention that purifies water and generates electricity. It would seem to be the best time to launch his product and gain world recognition.

PS. Does anyone know Dean kamen's email addy?

[vijay24]

I also have relatives in Madras, luckily they are alright. The death toll is horrible, but what is really scary is the hundreds of thousands (at the least) of displaced fisherman who lost their means of feeding their families. A lot of organizations are working to provide tamilian fisherman who survived with boats. Perhaps consider these organizations when donating money. When I get more info on such groups, I'll post.

[Katie Reynolds]

Originally Posted by plutonium83

...
PS. Does anyone know Dean kamen's email addy?

From: http://www.dekaresearch.com/contact.html#dean

How do I contact Dean Kamen directly?
Unfortunately you cannot contact Dean directly. His schedule makes it mpossible for him to read or respond personally to all the correspondence he receives. If you have a question, please send an email to contact@dekaresearch.com and we will forward your message either to him or the appropriate person here at DEKA. Bear in mind that we can’t make any promises regarding confidentiality of e-mail messages or letters.