Our aid finally multiplies as the death toll rises:

While it was possible to count bodies in some places, chaos enveloped many stricken areas, and officials offered little more than guesses. For example, Indonesia raised its estimate yesterday from 80,000 to 100,000 dead. Serious injuries were estimated at more than 500,000, and officials who warned of the threat of epidemics said the numbers could surge much higher. There were no reports of widespread starvation, and epidemics of cholera and other diseases have not yet materialized, but clean water vital to human survival and sanitation was scarce in many areas. It was clear that the relief effort, for all its global reach and pledges of millions, was in a race against time to save as many as five million people left homeless and destitute by what is now regarded as one of history's worst calamities. ...In Europe, where 7,000 residents were reported to be among the missing tourists in Asia, national flags in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany flew at half staff. Paris draped black mourning crepe on the trees of the Champs-Élysées. Some Italian cities canceled fireworks and parties and sent the money to charities for the victims. Thailand and Malaysia called off official festivities. Australia and other countries observed a minute of silence at midnight. In spirit and on paper, the relief program gathered momentum yesterday. President Bush increased the initial American pledge of $35 million to $350 million after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other officials told him the need would increase sharply in the weeks ahead. The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, said pledges of assistance by dozens of governments, the United Nations, the World Bank, hundreds of private charities and millions of ordinary people had added more than $500 million, and it was clear there would be more to come.