U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was shocked by what he saw in the tsunami battered areas — calling it among the worst damage he has ever seen
"I have never seen such utter destruction mile after mile," a shaken Annan told reporters. "You wonder where are the people? What has happened to them?"
Indeed, by all accounts the 160,000-plus death toll is expected to climb for a while. More:
With tens of thousands still missing and others threatened by disease from the powerful waves that hit 11 nations, the United Nations said the death toll would keep climbing.
"I think we have to be aware that very, very many of the victims have been swept away and many, many will not reappear," U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said in New York City.
Meanwhile, you an also see growing signs of the disaster moving into a new phase…a political one:
Security concerns for foreign aid workers emerged. The South Korean government asked its aid workers, some of them affiliated with Christian groups, not to engage in religious activities that could provoke Islamic radicals.
Also, in an apparent sign that American relief agencies want to keep a lower profile, several trucks delivering supplies from the United States removed large banners marking the source of the shipments.
SPEAKING OF RELIEF: You can help fill an airplane with supplies for tsunami victims if you CLICK HERE.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.