Recovery Continues Two Years After Tsunami

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published December 21, 2006 at 12:59 PM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

It's been two years since the devastating tsunami in Sri Lanka. We speak with the head an aid organization about the recovery and the ongoing challenges.

Tom Fudge: The day after Christmas, 2004, a tsunami hit the shores of several Southeast Asian nations. An estimated quarter of a million people were killed. And the disaster displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of millions of others.

Indonesia was the hit the hardest. But Sri Lanka lost more than 35,000 lives, mostly along its eastern coast. Today, officials with the Red Cross and other organizations are still trying to help people recover. And in Sri Lanka, the task is complicated by a civil war that is making aid missions difficult, if not impossible.

Become a KPBS sponsor

To learn about donations, visit the local American Red Cross Web site.

Guest

Al Panico , head of the delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He leads the tsunami recovery effort.