There are forces in nature we don’t understand and cannot control

WORDS are left impotent by a tragedy such as has unfolded in southern Asia over the past week. The sheer scale of the devastation wrought and the number of people killed cripples the imagination.

As I write, the death toll stands at about 144,000, but the figure may well increase. Anyway, an obsession with numbers might only serve to hide the suffering of individual people.

There are many tales to illustrate the huge loss suffered by many of the survivors. One man lost almost his entire family. He had eight children. Seven were killed by the tidal wave. “When the water came I got out of my house and I ran in panic,” he said. “I have zero left. I lost seven children. What do I need? Everything. Help us, please.”