Dry factual accounts of tsunamis and sea surges don’t come close to conveying human helplessness in the face of nature’s power and fury the way these videos do (1, 2, 3).

The latest reports put the death toll at 76,700 and that means 76,700 devastating scenes like this one.

More quotes:

• “My baby’s hand was so tiny, she just slipped away from me.”
• “I thought my parents didn’t want me anymore.”
• “We haven’t eaten for two days. We have to get out of here.”
• “I have not slept for two days. It is the worst destruction I have ever seen in my years as a doctor.”
• “Rescuers are holding their breath while using their bare hands, axes or shovels to dig through piles of wrecked buildings and debris.”
• “‘Good to know that, even when more than 50,000 people are presumed dead in one of the worst natural disasters in a century, it’s still all about us.”
• “We will stand with them as they start to rebuild their communities.”

Google has listed organisations that are accepting donations. A few US dollars or Euros go a long, long way in countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka and they badly need some help now. If you’re concerned about how well your donation is going to be handled, you might want to see these comparisons and ratings of charity efficiency and transparency.

The news just gets worse. The death toll is now apparently 44,000 with children making up a large percentage of that number.

The scope of this is staggering. Wikipedia notes the earthquake and the resulting tsunamis claimed lives in 12 countries spanning 7 different time-zones with tourists from 37 countries among those dead or missing.

Locally, the number of dead stands at 63 with 26 missing. (The Star only lists 60 victims as of writing.) The country is coping, though.

Stories are emerging — uplifting, bittersweet, heart-breaking.

More personal accounts: 1, 2, 3.

Scroll half-way down this page and click on the “Se Videoen” link for distressing amateur footage of a sea surge. (Link obtained from the Qt3 forums.)

There were concerns the political situation in Aceh and Sri Lanka might affect aid distribution but warring parties in both areas are setting aside their differences for now. Dangers still remain, though. Survivors and rescuers in Sri Lanka now have to worry about landmines dislodged by the killer waves.

Yet more quotes:

• “This was the worst day in our history. I wish I had died. There is no point in living.”
• “I saw many kids perish. I saw parents trying to hold them but it was impossible. It was hell.”
• “Our major concern is that the kids who survived the tsunami now survive the aftermath. Children are the most vulnerable to disease and lack of proper nutrition and water.”
• “They gave us the shirts they were wearing. They gave us their slippers. They are the most beautiful people in the world.”
• “Will this story get as much coverage as the Scott Peterson case?“

More quotes:

• “That earthquake has changed the map.”
• “We are used to dealing with disasters in one country. But I think something like this spread across many countries and islands is unprecedented.”
• “Tens of thousands have lost their lives, but there are also hundreds of thousands who have lost everything. But for a family the numbers mean nothing. When you see a child in your home swept away without a moment’s warning – that’s the human cost.”
• “Where are my children? Where are they? Why did this happen to me? I’ve lost everything.”
• “Now we just don’t know what to do. We are sitting on the main road, we can’t even have a proper funeral. I don’t know where to start.”

Quotes:

• “All the planet is vibrating.”
• “The speed with which it all happened seemed like a scene from the Bible — a natural phenomenon unlike anything I had experienced before.”
• “My scooter seemed to be dancing on the road. I ran out the cafe – everyone ran outside their houses.”
• “The fish were just flapping and dying on the beach. Then the wave just came towards us. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
• “There is a line of cars where people park by the beach and hundreds of bikes, I saw them all picked up like toys and moved along.”
• “I heard someone who said that she lost 2 (out of 4) of her children. She said that she didn’t know which one to pick up because she couldn’t carry them all.”
• “I wish I had died instead of the others, my daughter-in-law would have a life. I can’t bear to watch her pain.”
• “I am hoping there are still enough coffins available.”

The death toll from the devastating series of tsunamis that hit southeast Asian coastlines is rising steadily. The most recent number touted is 23,000.

The Star has a list of the dead in the northern region of Malaysia. It currently stands at 52 (excluding a victim from Selangor) but the number could rise since there are 22 people reported missing.

It’s hard watching the footage on the satellite news networks. So many heart-rending scenes from so many different countries. Women and children desperately trying to hold on to a building only to be swept away by the raging waters … men standing on the side of an upturned bus as water slowly but inexorably rises around their feet … bloated bodies lying on the ground unnaturally coloured with rigor mortis causing their hands to reach skywards as if asking for divine aid … a weeping man wipes away dirt from a dead woman’s face … a woman screaming at the dead child cradled in her arms as though trying to wake her up …

Links:

• Personal accounts: The Star, LiveJournal.
• Pix: Malaysia (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), Phuket (1, 2).
• del.icio.us links.