Travel Forum / Destinations / USA and Canada / September 2005

Not quite the same providence that provided the feast for the fishes
here is it:
"More than 50 people have been killed and many are unaccounted for in
fierce storms and flooding that have hit the Bay of Bengal since the
weekend.

Officials in Bangladesh believe scores of fishermen may be missing.

Indian authorities say dozens were killed and hundreds are missing in
Andhra Pradesh state.

More than 140,000 have been evacuated there after rains swelled rivers
and inundated villages, disrupting roads, trains and power supplies.

Alarm bells

The weekend's rains caused the sea to rise up to 3m (10ft) in coastal
areas along the Bay of Bengal.

The death toll in Andhra Pradesh has risen to 58, the commissioner for
disaster management, Shashank Goel, said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced compensation of
100,000 rupees ($2,300) each to the families of those killed."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4266580.stm

Still that is no reason to be unhappy.

Just imagine f the catastrophe had been on the same proportions as was
reported here:
"HYDERABAD, India, Sept 21 (Reuters) - At least 800 people remained
missing in southern India on Wednesday and hundreds of fishermen were
unaccounted for in Bangladesh after a severe storm in the Bay of Bengal
killed 50 people, officials said."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL36199.htm

Compensation of 100,000 rupees ($2,300) each to the families of those
killed would shame that being offered to those hit in New Orleans.

But just like the insurance offered to those caught in the hurricane in
(was it Maine?) two years ago; It's likely that all offers are going to
remain just that.