Death toll in Nepal rises to almost 2,000.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Nepal climbed above 1,900 on Sunday and was continuing to rise as officials struggled to gauge the full scale of the disaster and the world rushed to provide desperately needed aid. 

Dozens of aftershocks jolted Nepal on Saturday and Sunday as people sheltered where they could. Nepalese authorities continually revised the number of dead upwards a day after the Himalayan country was shaken by a magnitude 7.8 quake that wrecked houses, flattened centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mount Everest. 

More than 5,000 people had been injured, with the number of dead and injured expected to rise in the coming days. Nepalese police officials said more than 700 people died in Kathmandu alone. 

An avalanche triggered by the quake struck a section of Everest’s base camp, killing at least 17 people and injuring 61 others, local reports said. Further up the mountain, about 100 climbers were safe but facing difficulty getting down as the route back to safety was damaged, with the situation of more people on other other routes on the mountain still unknown and rescue efforts under way.

So much devastation!

My daughter arrived back home last night after being on the road with a traveling stage show for almost a month, and she sort of shamed me by asking how I could be so focused on the President's WHCD speech and not this tragedy.

She had a point.

I guess part of the reason I had not written about it is that I found it a little overwhelming and didn't know what I could do to help here on this blog.

The US is responding by sending a disaster response team and a million dollars in aid, but I imagine that amount will go up as we learn more about the devastation and loss of life.

I would suggest to those that want to help that they could start by making a donation to the Red Cross, because you know they will be in the thick of things.

If any of you have more information, or more legitimate places to donate, please let us know.

After all we are really one community sharing this planet, and what hurts one of us, hurts all of us.

Today is a day of shock and concern as the world turns to offer support to the people devastated by the earthquake in Haiti.

Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after the strongest earthquake to hit the poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.

The devastation was so complete that it seemed likely the death toll from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake would run into the thousands.

This is just terrible and my heart goes out to the Haitians.

I found this source for pictures of the devastation.




If you are feeling as helpless as I am, and want to do something to help, here is the Red Cross website where you can donate. You can donate to Doctor's without Borders here, or the the UNICEF earthquake relief fund here. If there are other LEGITIMATE relief programs out there then feel free to post them in the comments section.