Tsunami Relief

A 8.9-richter scale earthquake has resulted in a giant tsunami which has killed at least 20,000 people. The giant wave was caused shifting technoic plates off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday. Sri Lanka hardest; and it has caused damage as far away as Somalia.

Relief workers have set up The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog to gather and coordinate information about resources, aid, donations, and volunteer efforts in response to the devastation in Southeast Asia. I've put the link at the top of all 163 Progressive Blog Alliances blogrolls in an effort to spread the word. (Thanks Jon L.)

Update: Worldchanging has put up a "living" Summary Report of the Tsunami in Southeast Asia:

WorldChanging cited one surviver''s account of the giant wave:

As the waters rose at an incredible rate, I half expected to catch sight of Noah’s Ark. Instead of the Ark, I grabbed hold of a wooden catamaran that the local people used as a fishing boat. My brother jumped on the boat, next to me. We bobbed up and down on the catamaran, as the water rushed past us into the village beyond the road.

After a few minutes, the water stopped rising, and I felt it was safe to swim to the shore. What I didn’t realise was that the floodwaters would recede as dramatically as they had risen. All of a sudden, I found myself being swept out to sea with startling speed. Although I am a fairly strong swimmer, I was unable to withstand the current. The fishing boats around me had been torn from their moorings and were furiously bobbing up and down. For the first time, I felt afraid, powerless to prevent myself from being swept out to sea.

I swam in the direction of one of the loose catamarans, grabbed hold of the hull, and pulled myself to safety. My weight must have slowed the boat down and soon I was stranded on the sand.

As the water rushed out of the bay, I scrambled onto the main road. Screams and yells were coming from the houses behind the road, many of which were still half full of water, trapping the inhabitants inside. Villagers were walking dazed along the road, unable to comprehend what had taken place.