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Unprecedented Devastation in Southeast Asia; World Responding With Biggest Relief Effort in History

Aired December 28, 2004 - 14:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Unprecedented devastation, a rising death toll. The exact impact of the tsunami? Well, that is still being calculated. We are live from areas coping with the crisis.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Are countries pitching in enough to help out? A U.N. official backs off from some comments that some nations are stingy with international aid. We'll debate the subject, nevertheless, this hour.

NGUYEN: Could a tsunami strike the American East Coast? Scientists lay out some thought-provoking scenarios.

O'BRIEN: And remember this couple? They were honeymooning in Thailand. Their family feared the worst. Today, we're breathing a sigh of relief. We'll have their happy-ending story for you. It's nice to have one of those.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Six nations ravaged, 33,000 known dead, thousands more feared dead from the Asian tsunamis. And now a dire prediction of tens of thousands yet to die of disease. That from the World Health Organization almost three days after 30-foot waves laid waste on the Indian Ocean rim.

Confirmed deaths are concentrated in Sri Lanka, though officials in Indonesia fear the toll there will quintuple once the hardest-hit province in surveyed. After surviving the tsunami as he and his family vacationed in Thailand, ITV correspondent John Irvine is on the job, and he is the first journalist to reach the devastated resort island of Ko Phi Phi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN IRVINE, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): For many holiday- makers who go looking for a piece of heaven on earth, the search is here on Ko Phi Phi. But just look at the island today. The developed part has been obliterated, the view is one of destruction and the smell is one of death.

The hotels, bars and shops are on a narrow strip of sand a mile long but only 100 yards wide. The sea is on both sides. This became neat in a sandwich. (on camera): This island and in particular this part of the island was absolutely crammed with holiday-makers. There were so many, some were actually sleeping on the beach.

You can imagine they would have partied pretty late into the night. And on the morning of Boxing Day, when the tsunami smacked in from both sides, much of Phi Phi was still asleep.

(voice-over): Most of the tourists who survived have now been taken off the island by the Thai authorities who are here in force at last. Their primary task is to retrieve the bodies of the perished. How many died here they simply don't know yet. They've recovered 400 bodies already, but in our brief tour of the island, we found several more of the unlucky ones.

In recent years, Ko Phi Phi has been a magnet for pleasure seekers. Where Mother Nature has bestowed so much bounty, she turned violent for just an instant. What a terrible thing has happened to this beautiful and gentle place.

John Irvine, ITV News, Ko Phi Phi, Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: In this age of the camcorder, real-time images exist of just about everything, including the Christmas weekend onslaught from the Indian Ocean. A British tourist named Ben, last name unknown, shot the footage you're seeing here of water crashing into the Club Koggala Village Resort on the southern end of Sri Lanka.

He says he and a friend were just about to go snorkeling when they noticed the tide had gone out much farther than usual. Soon it came back, and it came back with a vengeance.

Now, Ben says the water burst through the door of his villa, but it ran through walls elsewhere. And he and his friend fled to the hotel's restaurant on a higher floor. He says managers took the guests to a temple on a nearby hill where they safely spent the night.

From Sri Lanka to Sumatra to Somalia, families, homes, even whole villages are decimated and wiped out altogether. CNN's Satinder Bindra is in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unaware of the suffering around her, the youngest member of this relief camp sleeps fitfully. But baby Rashuda's (ph) mother worries. Her younger brotherly is missing, and baby Rashuda's (ph) grandmother is dead, swept out to sea by Sunday's tsunami.

"Without my mother, I just can't imagine living," she says. The rest of the family too will find it hard to live without her. This is what tens of thousands of Sri Lankan families woke up to, their homes destroyed, their neighborhoods and communities sucked up by a savage sea. (on camera): More than 1,500 people are now seeking shelter this relief camp alone. Here they're provided food, water and emotional support. It's a story that's being repeated in thousands of shelters across the country.

(voice-over): Relief efforts, too, are now slowly bearing fruit. Western tourists stranded on Sri Lanka's beaches are now being moved to the country's capital, Colombo. For some, the events of the past 48 hours have been more than they can bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on a big stone and I saw only water above me. So I was very -- I thought I will die.

BINDRA: More than 10,000 Sri Lankans have already been killed in this calamity. Some of the worst affected communities are in this country's south and east. Tourists rescued from these areas say people there need help fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no power. There's no petrol. So there's no movement.

There's no like support getting through to help the injured. And I believe that there are -- there are bodies that need to be dealt with, identified and transported out of there because soon, I guess, with this heat, the sanitation problems will arise.

BINDRA: Over the next 24 hours, officials here say the death toll is likely to rise. Sri Lankans are bracing themselves for more suffering. They're also praying they've seen the last of these killer waves.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And the world is responding to Asia's tsunami catastrophe with one of the biggest relief efforts in history. CNN financial correspondent Allan Chernoff is at AmeriCare's headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, with the latest there -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Betty. And let's picture the situation, how devastating it is right now.

People have lost their homes. No drinking water. And the water that does exist, in some cases it's mixing in with sewage.

All of a sudden, the water becomes toxic, and contaminants are all over the place. People are certain to get diarrhea, say experts. And experts are warning also that thousands of people may actually die from that diarrhea.

Now, this is where a place like AmeriCares comes. They are sending more than 200,000 of these water purification packets in a shipment that's leaving tomorrow from Amsterdam.

We have our resident expert with us here from AmeriCares. He is Randy Weiss.

And Randy, what we've done here, we've put some dirt into water here. Clearly not as toxic, not toxic at all, not like the situation that we're seeing right now in Thailand or Sri Lanka. But show me exactly how would it work. What exactly do you do here?

RANDY WEISS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM MEMBER, AMERICARES: Absolutely. They'd have the dirty water. You take the pure. It is a powder, you pour it in.

And then you would have to stir it for five minutes to move it around. We have then done it over here. After you stir it, it will eventually become clean drinking water.

CHERNOFF: And essentially this acts like a magnet. It grabs the contaminates, separates them from the -- from the water.

WEISS: Absolutely. It brings the dirt down to the bottom, and then you strain it through and you'll have clean drinking water.

CHERNOFF: About 20 minutes ago we actually put one of those packets into this water. You can already see that the dirt has been separated from the water. And Randy, what would we do now?

WEISS: You then would have another container with a cloth or a towel over where you just pour in to strain.

CHERNOFF: Please go ahead. Let's have a look.

And this is exactly how people in the devastated areas can turn contaminated water into actual drinking water. It will be totally safe, and literally this can save thousands and thousands of lives. And you see exactly how simple it is for them to be able to do that.

The towel we have here isn't letting too much water through, but there we go. We're just illustrating right here, and you can see that the water is perfectly clear and certainly ready to be consumed. Potable water as quickly as that, just in 20 minutes.

Betty, back to you.

BLITZER: Much needed relief supplies. Allan, though, how quickly is it getting to the hard-hit areas? Is it going to take awhile?

CHERNOFF: No. Actually, they have another warehouse just like warehouse in Amsterdam. And AmeriCares is going to be sending a shipment not only of these water purification packets, but also of so many other medical supplies.

They're leaving tomorrow. So within a couple of days they'll actually be in Sri Lanka getting the material to nongovernmental organizations that are set up there, and getting all the material to medical personnel that will distribute it.

NGUYEN: Happening quickly. CNN's Allan Chernoff. Thank you for that.

The U.S. government says its total aid package for the disaster is $35 million so far. The United Nations emergency relief head who yesterday called the U.S. and other western countries "stingy" with their overall foreign aid now calls their response to the tsunami catastrophe "very generous." Jan Egeland says his criticism was misinterpreted. It was also immediately challenged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world. We do more to help people who are suffering from lack of food or who are in poverty, or suffering from HIV-AIDS. And this administration has a particularly good record in increasing the amount of assistance that we give to the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And U.S. military aid is on the way to Asia. A three- ship task force led by the USS Bonhomme Richard is headed to the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln and support ships en route to the Indian Ocean, and up to U.S. -- 700 U.S. troops will be dispatched to aid in relief operations as well.

Now, we will debate how generous the U.S. is with foreign aid coming up at about 2:35 Eastern -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: British tourist Debbie Baitson (ph) is safely back home from Sri Lanka where she filmed the deadly wave smashing into her hotel. She described the horror to ITV reporter Shulie Goshe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHULIE GOSHE, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): An emotional return for Debby Baitson (ph), who witnessed the terrifying forces which turned her holiday hideaway into a disaster zone. Recovering from her ordeal at home today, she described to me how she'd filmed some of the devastation from her hotel on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's absolutely no warning that anything, you know, untoward was going to happen. And then as you can see from the top there, there are actually a few people being swept up from the beach.

Get inside. Come on, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The force of that show of water and speed of the water coming through, I've never seen anything like it. And there was something within my own gut feeling that just made me think, this is terrifying and I don't want to be here.

GOSHE: Debbie's (ph) escape was extraordinary. In the aftermath of the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, over 10,000 people were left dead. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was an awful lot of panic. And we could see the water coming up because of the structure of the hotel. It was cement, but fortunately it was quite open, so the water could flood through to the other side.

We realized it was coming up the stairwells. And so we just were praying that it would stop. And fortunately, it did.

How high is it going to go? OK. I'm getting frightened now.

GOSHE: After a terrifying 12 hours trapped in the hotel, Debbie (ph) and others in her tour group were evacuated to Colombo. From there, they were flown home. She says she's lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were miraculously lucky and, you know, some would say blessed, really. And, you know, we were bystanders really in this horror.

GOSHE: Debbie (ph) praised the staff at her hotel who guided holiday-makers to safety. For them and her this was a dream holiday that turned into a nightmare.

Shulie Goshe, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Overwhelmed and under enormous strain, the health care systems of various hard hit by the tsunamis simply can't cope. Ahead we'll hear what some of their immediate needs are.

And a little boy found in the aftermath of the tsunami now back where he belongs. We'll tell you his amazing story.

And later on LIVE FROM, the U.S. government wants to wade into the holiday mess many air travelers found themselves in this past weekend. Details are coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, one tsunami mystery has been solved. A young Swedish boy rescued in Thailand now reunited with family members.

A couple found the toddler face down in the mud after a wave receded. They took him to a hospital where his story was picked up by a local newspaper. Within an hour of his picture being posted online, he was identified by a relative in Finland. Shortly after that he was reunited with his grandmother.

Today, 20-month-old Hans Bergstrom (ph) of Sweden back in his father's arms. His mother still among those missing in Thailand, however.

NGUYEN: Well, with so many in need after the tsunami disaster, the dilemma is where to send emergency aid first, and how much to send. Countless countries and international relief agencies are scrambling to collect supplies. Some of it's already trickling in. And Catrin Schulte-Hillen is program director for Doctors without Borders USA. She joins us now from New York.

Thanks for being with us today.

CATRIN SCHULTE-HILLEN, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Thank you for having me.

NGUYEN: I want to start off by telling you what a top World Health Organization expert said. He said that disease could kill as many people as the tsunamis did. Why is that?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: Could you repeat that? I copied you really badly. I'm so sorry.

NGUYEN: That's fine. Yes. A top World Health Organization expert today said that disease could kill as many people as the tsunamis did. Why is that?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: That is because in the second part of this emergency we'll be looking at huge amounts of people that are displaced and that live in inadequate conditions, meaning they don't have the house, they don't have the normal food, their traumatized by the experience, they're left with maybe cold climate at night. And so the vulnerability of this population means that they can develop disease. And if not adequate medical support is given, if water and sanitation is not adequate, if shelter needs are not met, then we can certainly meet much more mortality and morbidity amongst the population that has survived -- has survived the first shock wave, but that will stay vulnerable for many weeks to come.

NGUYEN: We're looking at 33,000 people killed already. What is your biggest health concern right now?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: In the first phase, we're looking at everything that has to do with the wounded and the traumatized people from this first shock wave. So the necessity to get medical care up to be able to do triage of the people, to send people to surgical care if they need it. And also for those who are just disoriented and don't know where to go and what to do. Immediately afterwards, however, we have to look at basic medical care and, most of all, water sanitation, food supply and shelter.

NGUYEN: What about the dead bodies that are still being found all around the place there? Does that pose a major health problem?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: I think it is a challenge. We'll have to see how -- how we're dealing with it.

If we look at the public health concerns right now, it obviously has to do with everything that's water-borne diseases. It's not only the dead bodies, but it's also the fact that there's these floods that have been created by the wave have risen the level of groundwater.

So we're looking at a situation where we now have saltwater mixed with sewage. And inadequate water supplies. So people might drink this water.

Diarrhea diseases is a major problem. And we're looking at diseases that come from the fact that there is big water flax around. So everything that has to do with mosquitoes or insects is going to be on the rise because there's going to be water puddles everywhere.

NGUYEN: For Doctors without Borders and other relief organizations, are you prepared for such an enormous need?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: I don't think any single organization can meet all those needs. What we are having -- and I think that has allowed us to respond very quickly -- is the fact that we have on going projects and teams in just about all of the countries affected, both in south Asia and in the African countries. So in Horn of Africa, Kenya and Somalia. The fact that those teams all constantly do emergency preparedness and have basic material in their ongoing projects to be able to respond to emergencies has helped us to be able to displace teams immediately to the sites of the emergency and to have basic medical material and water and sanitation material on site.

NGUYEN: You've got a lot of work on your hands. We wish you the best. Catrin Schulte-Hillen with Doctors Without Borders USA. Thank you.

SCHULTE-HILLEN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: And if you want to help out, Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups, they are accepting donations. You can get more information, including addresses and links on our Web site. That is at cnn.com.

Well, the cleanup effort in Asia could cost billions of dollars.

O'BRIEN: And most of the damage not insured. Ahead on LIVE FROM, just who will pick up the tab? What will the impact be on the world economy?

NGUYEN: And whoever's saying it never rains in California apparently never saw this. Details on a deluge later on LIVE FROM.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange. It was a bad weekend for some airlines, not to mention their passengers. But is it a case for a federal investigator?

We'll have that story on LIVE FROM. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: It looks like Mission Control there where randy sits, running all those cameras. Of course Mission Control did travelers little help over the holidays. Over the river and through the airport terminal, ugly.

NGUYEN: What a nightmare it was for so many travelers trying to go on vacation or get back home from the holidays, relatives. O'BRIEN: Yes.

NGUYEN: Some airlines had more problems than others. But why is the government getting involved? Well, David Haffenreffer joins us from New York with that story.

Hey, David.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired December 28, 2004 - 14:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Unprecedented devastation, a rising death toll. The exact impact of the tsunami? Well, that is still being calculated. We are live from areas coping with the crisis.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Are countries pitching in enough to help out? A U.N. official backs off from some comments that some nations are stingy with international aid. We'll debate the subject, nevertheless, this hour.

NGUYEN: Could a tsunami strike the American East Coast? Scientists lay out some thought-provoking scenarios.

O'BRIEN: And remember this couple? They were honeymooning in Thailand. Their family feared the worst. Today, we're breathing a sigh of relief. We'll have their happy-ending story for you. It's nice to have one of those.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Six nations ravaged, 33,000 known dead, thousands more feared dead from the Asian tsunamis. And now a dire prediction of tens of thousands yet to die of disease. That from the World Health Organization almost three days after 30-foot waves laid waste on the Indian Ocean rim.

Confirmed deaths are concentrated in Sri Lanka, though officials in Indonesia fear the toll there will quintuple once the hardest-hit province in surveyed. After surviving the tsunami as he and his family vacationed in Thailand, ITV correspondent John Irvine is on the job, and he is the first journalist to reach the devastated resort island of Ko Phi Phi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN IRVINE, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): For many holiday- makers who go looking for a piece of heaven on earth, the search is here on Ko Phi Phi. But just look at the island today. The developed part has been obliterated, the view is one of destruction and the smell is one of death.

The hotels, bars and shops are on a narrow strip of sand a mile long but only 100 yards wide. The sea is on both sides. This became neat in a sandwich. (on camera): This island and in particular this part of the island was absolutely crammed with holiday-makers. There were so many, some were actually sleeping on the beach.

You can imagine they would have partied pretty late into the night. And on the morning of Boxing Day, when the tsunami smacked in from both sides, much of Phi Phi was still asleep.

(voice-over): Most of the tourists who survived have now been taken off the island by the Thai authorities who are here in force at last. Their primary task is to retrieve the bodies of the perished. How many died here they simply don't know yet. They've recovered 400 bodies already, but in our brief tour of the island, we found several more of the unlucky ones.

In recent years, Ko Phi Phi has been a magnet for pleasure seekers. Where Mother Nature has bestowed so much bounty, she turned violent for just an instant. What a terrible thing has happened to this beautiful and gentle place.

John Irvine, ITV News, Ko Phi Phi, Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: In this age of the camcorder, real-time images exist of just about everything, including the Christmas weekend onslaught from the Indian Ocean. A British tourist named Ben, last name unknown, shot the footage you're seeing here of water crashing into the Club Koggala Village Resort on the southern end of Sri Lanka.

He says he and a friend were just about to go snorkeling when they noticed the tide had gone out much farther than usual. Soon it came back, and it came back with a vengeance.

Now, Ben says the water burst through the door of his villa, but it ran through walls elsewhere. And he and his friend fled to the hotel's restaurant on a higher floor. He says managers took the guests to a temple on a nearby hill where they safely spent the night.

From Sri Lanka to Sumatra to Somalia, families, homes, even whole villages are decimated and wiped out altogether. CNN's Satinder Bindra is in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unaware of the suffering around her, the youngest member of this relief camp sleeps fitfully. But baby Rashuda's (ph) mother worries. Her younger brotherly is missing, and baby Rashuda's (ph) grandmother is dead, swept out to sea by Sunday's tsunami.

"Without my mother, I just can't imagine living," she says. The rest of the family too will find it hard to live without her. This is what tens of thousands of Sri Lankan families woke up to, their homes destroyed, their neighborhoods and communities sucked up by a savage sea. (on camera): More than 1,500 people are now seeking shelter this relief camp alone. Here they're provided food, water and emotional support. It's a story that's being repeated in thousands of shelters across the country.

(voice-over): Relief efforts, too, are now slowly bearing fruit. Western tourists stranded on Sri Lanka's beaches are now being moved to the country's capital, Colombo. For some, the events of the past 48 hours have been more than they can bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on a big stone and I saw only water above me. So I was very -- I thought I will die.

BINDRA: More than 10,000 Sri Lankans have already been killed in this calamity. Some of the worst affected communities are in this country's south and east. Tourists rescued from these areas say people there need help fast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no power. There's no petrol. So there's no movement.

There's no like support getting through to help the injured. And I believe that there are -- there are bodies that need to be dealt with, identified and transported out of there because soon, I guess, with this heat, the sanitation problems will arise.

BINDRA: Over the next 24 hours, officials here say the death toll is likely to rise. Sri Lankans are bracing themselves for more suffering. They're also praying they've seen the last of these killer waves.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And the world is responding to Asia's tsunami catastrophe with one of the biggest relief efforts in history. CNN financial correspondent Allan Chernoff is at AmeriCare's headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, with the latest there -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Betty. And let's picture the situation, how devastating it is right now.

People have lost their homes. No drinking water. And the water that does exist, in some cases it's mixing in with sewage.

All of a sudden, the water becomes toxic, and contaminants are all over the place. People are certain to get diarrhea, say experts. And experts are warning also that thousands of people may actually die from that diarrhea.

Now, this is where a place like AmeriCares comes. They are sending more than 200,000 of these water purification packets in a shipment that's leaving tomorrow from Amsterdam.

We have our resident expert with us here from AmeriCares. He is Randy Weiss.

And Randy, what we've done here, we've put some dirt into water here. Clearly not as toxic, not toxic at all, not like the situation that we're seeing right now in Thailand or Sri Lanka. But show me exactly how would it work. What exactly do you do here?

RANDY WEISS, EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM MEMBER, AMERICARES: Absolutely. They'd have the dirty water. You take the pure. It is a powder, you pour it in.

And then you would have to stir it for five minutes to move it around. We have then done it over here. After you stir it, it will eventually become clean drinking water.

CHERNOFF: And essentially this acts like a magnet. It grabs the contaminates, separates them from the -- from the water.

WEISS: Absolutely. It brings the dirt down to the bottom, and then you strain it through and you'll have clean drinking water.

CHERNOFF: About 20 minutes ago we actually put one of those packets into this water. You can already see that the dirt has been separated from the water. And Randy, what would we do now?

WEISS: You then would have another container with a cloth or a towel over where you just pour in to strain.

CHERNOFF: Please go ahead. Let's have a look.

And this is exactly how people in the devastated areas can turn contaminated water into actual drinking water. It will be totally safe, and literally this can save thousands and thousands of lives. And you see exactly how simple it is for them to be able to do that.

The towel we have here isn't letting too much water through, but there we go. We're just illustrating right here, and you can see that the water is perfectly clear and certainly ready to be consumed. Potable water as quickly as that, just in 20 minutes.

Betty, back to you.

BLITZER: Much needed relief supplies. Allan, though, how quickly is it getting to the hard-hit areas? Is it going to take awhile?

CHERNOFF: No. Actually, they have another warehouse just like warehouse in Amsterdam. And AmeriCares is going to be sending a shipment not only of these water purification packets, but also of so many other medical supplies.

They're leaving tomorrow. So within a couple of days they'll actually be in Sri Lanka getting the material to nongovernmental organizations that are set up there, and getting all the material to medical personnel that will distribute it.

NGUYEN: Happening quickly. CNN's Allan Chernoff. Thank you for that.

The U.S. government says its total aid package for the disaster is $35 million so far. The United Nations emergency relief head who yesterday called the U.S. and other western countries "stingy" with their overall foreign aid now calls their response to the tsunami catastrophe "very generous." Jan Egeland says his criticism was misinterpreted. It was also immediately challenged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world. We do more to help people who are suffering from lack of food or who are in poverty, or suffering from HIV-AIDS. And this administration has a particularly good record in increasing the amount of assistance that we give to the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And U.S. military aid is on the way to Asia. A three- ship task force led by the USS Bonhomme Richard is headed to the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln and support ships en route to the Indian Ocean, and up to U.S. -- 700 U.S. troops will be dispatched to aid in relief operations as well.

Now, we will debate how generous the U.S. is with foreign aid coming up at about 2:35 Eastern -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: British tourist Debbie Baitson (ph) is safely back home from Sri Lanka where she filmed the deadly wave smashing into her hotel. She described the horror to ITV reporter Shulie Goshe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHULIE GOSHE, ITV NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): An emotional return for Debby Baitson (ph), who witnessed the terrifying forces which turned her holiday hideaway into a disaster zone. Recovering from her ordeal at home today, she described to me how she'd filmed some of the devastation from her hotel on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's absolutely no warning that anything, you know, untoward was going to happen. And then as you can see from the top there, there are actually a few people being swept up from the beach.

Get inside. Come on, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The force of that show of water and speed of the water coming through, I've never seen anything like it. And there was something within my own gut feeling that just made me think, this is terrifying and I don't want to be here.

GOSHE: Debbie's (ph) escape was extraordinary. In the aftermath of the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, over 10,000 people were left dead. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was an awful lot of panic. And we could see the water coming up because of the structure of the hotel. It was cement, but fortunately it was quite open, so the water could flood through to the other side.

We realized it was coming up the stairwells. And so we just were praying that it would stop. And fortunately, it did.

How high is it going to go? OK. I'm getting frightened now.

GOSHE: After a terrifying 12 hours trapped in the hotel, Debbie (ph) and others in her tour group were evacuated to Colombo. From there, they were flown home. She says she's lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were miraculously lucky and, you know, some would say blessed, really. And, you know, we were bystanders really in this horror.

GOSHE: Debbie (ph) praised the staff at her hotel who guided holiday-makers to safety. For them and her this was a dream holiday that turned into a nightmare.

Shulie Goshe, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Overwhelmed and under enormous strain, the health care systems of various hard hit by the tsunamis simply can't cope. Ahead we'll hear what some of their immediate needs are.

And a little boy found in the aftermath of the tsunami now back where he belongs. We'll tell you his amazing story.

And later on LIVE FROM, the U.S. government wants to wade into the holiday mess many air travelers found themselves in this past weekend. Details are coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, one tsunami mystery has been solved. A young Swedish boy rescued in Thailand now reunited with family members.

A couple found the toddler face down in the mud after a wave receded. They took him to a hospital where his story was picked up by a local newspaper. Within an hour of his picture being posted online, he was identified by a relative in Finland. Shortly after that he was reunited with his grandmother.

Today, 20-month-old Hans Bergstrom (ph) of Sweden back in his father's arms. His mother still among those missing in Thailand, however.

NGUYEN: Well, with so many in need after the tsunami disaster, the dilemma is where to send emergency aid first, and how much to send. Countless countries and international relief agencies are scrambling to collect supplies. Some of it's already trickling in. And Catrin Schulte-Hillen is program director for Doctors without Borders USA. She joins us now from New York.

Thanks for being with us today.

CATRIN SCHULTE-HILLEN, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: Thank you for having me.

NGUYEN: I want to start off by telling you what a top World Health Organization expert said. He said that disease could kill as many people as the tsunamis did. Why is that?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: Could you repeat that? I copied you really badly. I'm so sorry.

NGUYEN: That's fine. Yes. A top World Health Organization expert today said that disease could kill as many people as the tsunamis did. Why is that?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: That is because in the second part of this emergency we'll be looking at huge amounts of people that are displaced and that live in inadequate conditions, meaning they don't have the house, they don't have the normal food, their traumatized by the experience, they're left with maybe cold climate at night. And so the vulnerability of this population means that they can develop disease. And if not adequate medical support is given, if water and sanitation is not adequate, if shelter needs are not met, then we can certainly meet much more mortality and morbidity amongst the population that has survived -- has survived the first shock wave, but that will stay vulnerable for many weeks to come.

NGUYEN: We're looking at 33,000 people killed already. What is your biggest health concern right now?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: In the first phase, we're looking at everything that has to do with the wounded and the traumatized people from this first shock wave. So the necessity to get medical care up to be able to do triage of the people, to send people to surgical care if they need it. And also for those who are just disoriented and don't know where to go and what to do. Immediately afterwards, however, we have to look at basic medical care and, most of all, water sanitation, food supply and shelter.

NGUYEN: What about the dead bodies that are still being found all around the place there? Does that pose a major health problem?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: I think it is a challenge. We'll have to see how -- how we're dealing with it.

If we look at the public health concerns right now, it obviously has to do with everything that's water-borne diseases. It's not only the dead bodies, but it's also the fact that there's these floods that have been created by the wave have risen the level of groundwater.

So we're looking at a situation where we now have saltwater mixed with sewage. And inadequate water supplies. So people might drink this water.

Diarrhea diseases is a major problem. And we're looking at diseases that come from the fact that there is big water flax around. So everything that has to do with mosquitoes or insects is going to be on the rise because there's going to be water puddles everywhere.

NGUYEN: For Doctors without Borders and other relief organizations, are you prepared for such an enormous need?

SCHULTE-HILLEN: I don't think any single organization can meet all those needs. What we are having -- and I think that has allowed us to respond very quickly -- is the fact that we have on going projects and teams in just about all of the countries affected, both in south Asia and in the African countries. So in Horn of Africa, Kenya and Somalia. The fact that those teams all constantly do emergency preparedness and have basic material in their ongoing projects to be able to respond to emergencies has helped us to be able to displace teams immediately to the sites of the emergency and to have basic medical material and water and sanitation material on site.

NGUYEN: You've got a lot of work on your hands. We wish you the best. Catrin Schulte-Hillen with Doctors Without Borders USA. Thank you.

SCHULTE-HILLEN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: And if you want to help out, Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups, they are accepting donations. You can get more information, including addresses and links on our Web site. That is at cnn.com.

Well, the cleanup effort in Asia could cost billions of dollars.

O'BRIEN: And most of the damage not insured. Ahead on LIVE FROM, just who will pick up the tab? What will the impact be on the world economy?

NGUYEN: And whoever's saying it never rains in California apparently never saw this. Details on a deluge later on LIVE FROM.

DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange. It was a bad weekend for some airlines, not to mention their passengers. But is it a case for a federal investigator?

We'll have that story on LIVE FROM. Don't go away.

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O'BRIEN: It looks like Mission Control there where randy sits, running all those cameras. Of course Mission Control did travelers little help over the holidays. Over the river and through the airport terminal, ugly.

NGUYEN: What a nightmare it was for so many travelers trying to go on vacation or get back home from the holidays, relatives. O'BRIEN: Yes.

NGUYEN: Some airlines had more problems than others. But why is the government getting involved? Well, David Haffenreffer joins us from New York with that story.

Hey, David.

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