Rains, floods hamper tsunami relief<\/p>\n
Irwin Arieff, Reuters\/United Nations<\/p>\n
Heavy rains and floods are holding up efforts to help victims of
\nthe Asian tsunami, but the United Nations said on Tuesday that
\n\"extraordinary progress\" was being made and the total amount of
\naid pledged had risen to between US$2 billion and $3 billion.<\/p>\n
There was a growing threat of diseases such as cholera and
\nmalaria which could kill tens of thousands of people, with
\nsurvivors desperate to find water uncontaminated by seawater and
\nsewage, said health officials from Sri Lanka to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Bottlenecks in the aid pipeline remained, but a top UN
\nofficial said these were being overcome more quickly than in
\nprevious disasters.<\/p>\n
The U.S. military announced plans to double to about 90 the
\nnumber of helicopters it was providing for the aid effort,
\nboosting the capability to supply badly damaged areas where
\nairplanes cannot land.<\/p>\n
\"We are making extraordinary progress in reaching the majority
\nof the people affected in the majority of the areas. We are also
\nexperiencing extraordinary obstacles in many, many areas,\" UN
\nEmergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said at a news
\nconference.<\/p>\n
He said donations toward disaster relief were growing daily,
\nand \"we are somewhere between $2 billion and $3 billion in total
\npledges,\" including funds intended for longer term
\nreconstruction.<\/p>\n
In Washington, Congress was expected to approve more aid on
\ntop of the already announced $350 million U.S. contribution.<\/p>\n
\"I intend to ensure that aid is flowing as efficiently and
\neffectively as possible,\" said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
\na Republican from Tennessee.<\/p>\n
As exhausted doctors, nurses, aid workers and troops continued
\ntheir around-the-clock operations, world leaders began arriving
\nin Asia ahead of a Jakarta conference on Thursday where the
\nUnited Nations will launch a major aid appeal.<\/p>\n
The toll continued to climb, with around 150,000 confirmed
\nkilled and millions left homeless or displaced.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization estimates there are more than
\n500,000 people injured and in need of medical care across six
\nAsian nations. The United Nations estimates that 5 million people
\nneed some kind of aid and 1 million are homeless.<\/p>\n
At least a third of those killed were children and there were
\nfears that a \"tsunami generation\" of children was likely to
\nsuffer more than adults in the aftermath of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\"We probably underestimated the impact on children,\" said
\nUNICEF spokeswoman Wivina Belmonte. \"Many people are already
\ntalking about the tsunami generation.\"<\/p>\n
The main airport in Indonesia's Banda Aceh, a hub for relief
\nflights, was closed to fixed-wing aircraft for much of Tuesday
\nafter a cargo plane hit a buffalo, the UN World Food Program
\nreported.<\/p>\n
In the devastated town of Meulaboh in Aceh province,
\neffectively cut off for a week and with an estimated 40,000
\nfeared dead, a damaged airstrip was cleared sufficiently for use
\nby small Twin Otter aircraft, enabling medical teams to
\ndistribute bandages, dressings and painkillers.<\/p>\n
\"The casualty rates in Meulaboh defy imagination,\" said Aitor
\nLacomba, Indonesian director of aid group International Rescue
\nCommittee. \"Tens of thousands need immediate assistance there.\"<\/p>\n
When the tsunami hit western Sumatra \"it was like a wall of
\nconcrete exploding on that coastline,\" Egeland said.<\/p>\n
U.S. amphibious ships arrived off Sumatra on Tuesday and
\nstarted loading aid via helicopters from Medan, before sailing
\naround Sumatra's northern tip and down the isolated west coast.<\/p>\n
In Sri Lanka, the second hardest hit nation with more than
\n30,000 dead and 788,000 displaced persons in 800 camps, the first
\nof 1,200 U.S. Marines had arrived with helicopters, bulldozers
\nand generators.<\/p>\n
Heavy rain again lashed parts of eastern Sri Lanka on Tuesday,
\nflooding camps housing hundreds of thousands.<\/p>",
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