U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the donations have been generous but the need is vast.
"This is an unprecedented global catastrophe, and it requires an unprecedented global response," Annan said at a news conference.
Sri Lankans search for bodies on Kalmuni beach. Many people in Sri Lanka and elsewhere fled and climbed onto roofs after India issued a tsunami warning Thursday that turned out to be a false alarm.
(Thomas White -- Reuters)
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"It is conceivable that one may not be able to fulfill every possible need for each of the countries and each of the coastal villages that has been destroyed. We should do all our best to really help them," he said. "If we fall short, we can at least be satisfied that we did everything possible."
The Indonesian Health Ministry reported that it expected further increases in the death toll. Sri Lanka reported 27,268 dead and about 1 million people displaced; India, at least 7,368 deaths, with 8,000 missing and possibly dead in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Thailand, 4,500 dead; Somalia, 114; Burma, also known as Myanmar, 65; Malaysia, 65; Maldives, 69; Tanzania, 10; Bangladesh, two; and Kenya, one.
Indonesia
Indonesian officials continued to struggle with the lack of infrastructure in Aceh province.
Many local government officials were killed in the disaster, and authorities said others were missing or too traumatized to function. Officials said the federal government would send 300 workers from various ministries to replace them and reestablish government services.
At least 500,000 people were displaced and 100,000 homes destroyed in Aceh, officials said. A major highway to towns on the west coast is impassable, and there is no access by land.
Oliver Hall, head of the U.N. disaster assessment and coordination team in Indonesia, said local officials were "clearly in a state of great shock" and that "there's huge devastation in Banda Aceh and along the west coast."
"There's no extra water available," he added, warning that volunteers must bring their own provisions to the region. "There's no communication equipment available. There's no extra food available. It's a wasteland."
At night, Meulaboh is completely dark, and the electrical grid will take perhaps three months to fully restore, Agustiono, the government official, said. In Calong, a town north of Meulaboh, he said, only 5,000 of 15,000 people were reported to have survived. Most of the rescuers on the west coast are with the Indonesian military, supported by a Malaysian air force team, he said.
While the airport at Banda Aceh is busy with the arrival of relief-related flights, residents said little was getting through to them. Hungry crowds jostled around aid workers who tried to deliver biscuits to relieve hunger. Some drivers dared not stop.
Sri Lanka
Victims on the northern coast hit journalists and a soldier with wooden poles during a meeting with Prime Minister Mahina Rajapakse, who was led to safety by his bodyguards. Rajapakse was on a tour of affected areas in a region that has been controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels, who have fought government forces for 20 years.
The rebels, who seek independence in the northern and eastern portions of the country, appealed for international relief aid this week. There has been a cease-fire in the area since 2002, when Norway brokered a truce.
The Indian government reported that it had provided extensive rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka and other affected countries, including search ships and planes, medical camps staffed with doctors and equipment, air drops of supplies and $25 million in aid.
