China’s death toll from Tropical Storm Bilis rises to 612
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/07/24/afx2898783.html
BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The death toll in China from Tropical Storm Bilis has risen to 612 with another 208 people missing, Xinhua news agency said, citing the nation’s disaster relief commission.
Local officials were quoted by state media today as saying the fast-rising death toll could be because authorities were initially focused on disaster relief rather than counting bodies.
The commission said a total of 3.07 mln people have had to be relocated due to the storm.
Hurricane Katrina got international attention last year, and garnered the sympathies and good wishes of those around the world. Foreign donations for the hurricane last year amounted to over 3.5 billion dollars from individuals alone. Britain even offered to donate pre-packaged food for all those whose livelihoods were affected (this was rejected because Bush feared British beef, an undiplomatic gesture in response to a highly diplomatic offer).
And yet, I don’t see a second of attention to this disaster in China of a larger magnitude, displacing over 3 million people and killing at least about 2/3rds of a thousand. I see Forbes cares — perhaps it is because the region pounded by the storm is China’s most economically vibrant region, and Forbes thinks this will have a significant economic & financial effect.
I don’t see a cent flow into the relief of those affected by the storm. I don’t even know any charities that accept donations for this purpose, as opposed to for Katrina, when basically all charitable organizations accepted money for the relief of katrina victims.
People have complained that the casualty stats for Katrina reflect racism in the South, how 8x more of those who drowned were African-American than white. But I say that is flawed, because 10x more of the residents of the same regions were African-American. In proportion to those who live there, more whites died.
You think that’s racism? That’s just jumping to an irrational and unmathematical conclusion.
This is racism, not caring a CENT (yes, cent) about the disaster in a country half a world away, when it cared about the disaster in your country a year ago. I’ve talked to many people about this issue, but everyone seemed to respond to this with: “Great, there are too many of them anyway.” The insensitivity to the suffering of others is unbearable and disgusting. When your relatives all live in a country heavily devastated by a natural disaster (not to mention tropical storms cause 20 billion dollars of economic damage every year…), you start to worry.
Poor Hainan.