The Numbers Continue to Grow

Breaking News: 7,000 More Bodies Discovered in Indonesia!

Indonesia Needs Help, Death Toll Expected To Exceed 400,000. Health Ministry sources told Reuters just under 80,000 had died in Indonesia's northern Aceh province . Sri Lanka, severely afflicted, raised its toll to 27,268. Millions of people on Indian Ocean shores scrambled for food and clean water as disease, thirst, hunger and panic threatened survivors. If you would like to help through Worldvision click here.

Catholic Relief Services is pledging $25 million for emergency relief and long-term programs to help people in southeast Asia recover from the tsunami that has killed more than 117,000 people and left millions without clean water, shelter, food or medicine. The amount committed by the Baltimore-based group, which is the official international humanitarian organization of the U.S. Catholic community, is one of the largest to date. It's only $10 million less than the money initially pledged by the U.S. government for emergency aid.
"We must brace for the commitment this emergency asks of us and be as generous as we can," said Ken Hackett, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services. Caroline Brennan, a spokeswoman for the group, said the money is available now and will be dispersed as programs evolve. CRS staff throughout the southeast Asian region are working with local partners in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia to establish the best response. Depending on local needs, the money could be used to provide food, water, shelter, medicine, clothing and household items. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the archbishop of Washington, said Thursday he will visit Sri Lanka to see firsthand the damage inflicted by the tsunamis.