Tsunami Financial aid rises to $1.5 billion! Not Enough!!

"We passed town after town after town that looked like it had been literally flattened by an atomic bomb," said CNN's Mike Chinoy, who was on board the flight.



A total of 138,631 people have so far been confirmed dead following the quake and resulting Indian Ocean tsunamis.



"Please help all you can by donating to the tsunami relief effort at any major website including Yahoo, Google, Amazon, eBay, and look for the tsunami relief funds links! Help ourselves by helping others!!!" Financial aid rises to $1.5 billion



U.N.: Tsunami toll could approach 150,000

Saturday, January 1, 2005 Posted: 9:57 AM EST (1457 GMT)



Indonesian soldiers unload relief supplies from a C-130 cargo plane at Banda Aceh airport Saturday.



BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (CNN) -- Pledges of international financial support for countries devastated by the Indian Ocean tsanumis have surpassed $1.5 billion.



As food and other supplies began to reach victims in remote areas of Indonesia on Saturday, Japan said it would increase its funding pledge to $500 million from $30 million.



The decision makes Japan the single largest contributor in the relief efforts. (Full story)



Japan's announcement comes one day after the United States raised its contribution from $35 million to $350 million. (Full story)



On Saturday, U.S. military helicopters dropped relief supplies into parts of Indonesia's hard-hit Aceh province virtually cut off from the rest of the world after a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunamis claimed 80,000 lives in Indonesia -- nearly half of the estimated total death toll so far.



Desperate survivors of the natural disaster frantically waved and rushed a chopper as it briefly touched down and dropped off aid to Keude Teunom, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Banda Aceh on Sumatra island's west coast.



"We passed town after town after town that looked like it had been literally flattened by an atomic bomb," said CNN's Mike Chinoy, who was on board the flight.



The helicopter returned to the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, off Banda Aceh's coast to refuel and continue relief missions.



U.S. troops arrived Saturday in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, to distribute aid to the hard-hit region.



Indonesia's Aceh province was near the epicenter of last Sunday's earthquake that triggered the deadly tidal wave that killed people from Indonesia to Thailand and other areas of southern Asia to regions as far away as Somalia.



The U.S. military also distributed aid to the remote western coastal town of Meulaboh, where Indonesia's government believes at least half of the 50,000 residents were wiped out by the tsunamis. The massive waves left the town inaccessible by vehicle after destroying roads and bridges.



Jan Engeland, U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said he expects the number of dead in Indonesia alone to grew from 80,000 to 100,000, based on estimates from agency workers in the field. That would bring the death toll to about 150,000.



A total of 138,631 people have so far been confirmed dead following the quake and resulting Indian Ocean tsunamis.



"We will never have an exact figure because of all the nameless fishermen who are gone," Egeland said.



He predicted that 5 million people ultimately will be affected by the disaster, including 1 million homeless.



The arrival of the U.S. helicopters was the first sign that the world had not forgotten about the survivors, said Sabine Rens of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), which made it to two coastal areas Friday.



"We just touched down, got out of the helicopter, and people started running toward us, shaking our hands, saying, 'Oh, my God,' " Rens said. "This woman fell into my arms and started crying."



Obstacles -- including a lack of coordination, fuel shortages, rough weather, airport logjams and impassable roads -- have prevented the distribution of aid to some of the most devastated areas in the 11 Asian and African nations affected by a magnitude 9 earthquake and resulting tsunamis.



U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met Friday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss several issues, including U.S. assistance to the region.



President George W. Bush said in a press release the United States had created a support center in Thailand and that 20 aircraft were dispatched to "assess the disaster and deliver relief supplies."



Powell and Bush's brother Jeb, governor of Florida, will lead a U.S. mission to the region Sunday. (Full story)



Officials said Friday that logjams of supplies at Asian airports and a lack of fuel threaten to hinder the aid effort. (Full story)



In areas near Medan, Indonesia, soldiers distributed necessities, but dwindling fuel supplies meant they could not reach some areas.



The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday it would begin an emergency airlift on Sunday to Indonesia that should get 400 tons of supplies to 100,000 people in Aceh province.



"We will be immediately providing shelter material for about one-fifth of the estimated affected population, but this is just the start of our operation," High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers said in a press release.



Scenes of devastation

As workers and news crews arrived in washed out flattened areas -- villages and towns that just a week ago were filled with people and homes -- they saw striking signs of the will to survive.



People, some barely clothed, picked through rubble for food and supplies.



Elsewhere, the death toll in Sri Lanka is above 43,000. India and Thailand account for thousands more deaths.



In Sri Lanka, more than two decades of civil war have already ravaged large parts of the country. The tsunami washed up many land mines, leaving them scattered on the ground.



The Tamil Tiger rebels have established a virtual clampdown the northern and eastern regions of the country, hampering aid distribution.



Residents have been warned to stick to only the few major roads that leaders are trying to secure. No one can enter without going through rebel checkpoints.



In southern parts of Sri Lanka controlled by the government, more than 50 aid flights have arrived.



Sri Lankan officials have said they are coordinating with Tamil Tigers to get supplies to rebel-controlled areas, but some rebel leaders have accused the government of neglect.



Other nations and international aid groups want to send another 100 flights full of supplies, but the government has said it doesn't have the capacity for that many planes.



Tales of survival

Thousands of people in the country are living in Buddhist temples and churches. They share remarkable stories of survival. (Full story)



One man said when the waves hit he took shelter in a tree, clinging to branches for days as the water remained high. He eventually fell down, fracturing a leg.



He counts himself among the lucky ones; he was reunited with his family.



Others in the shelters recounted having been in their boats in the harbor when the tsunami struck, saying they were tossed around like toys, but miraculously did not drown.



Chip Lyons with UNICEF said his organization's teams in the region still "have to get a handle" on the survival needs.



They have begun distributing tablets that mix with water and help cure diarrhea -- which he called the number one cause of preventable death among children after such disasters.



Aid groups will work to reconnect young people with extended family members or others who can take care of them, and will bring them together with other children.



Lyons said that at this time even a simple game of kickball and makeshift classrooms could help establish a semblance of normalcy.



Amid the devastation, Friday brought a glimmer of hope. In some places, as the new year arrived, people broke into celebrations. In Sri Lanka, they violated a national day of mourning that banned such events.



Thoughts for tsunami victims tempered New Year's Eve festivities. Several major cities canceled parties, and Australia held a minute of silence. (Full story)



CNN's Mike Chinoy in Banda Aceh, Indonesia; Atika Shubert in Medan, Indonesia; Hugh Rimington in Dodangoda, Sri Lanka; and Satinder Bindra in Galle, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.