Staggering disaster, staggering need

The ever-rising numbers coming out of tsunami-stricken south Asia are staggering.

In Indonesia alone, the death toll is at least 80,000, equivalent to the entire population of Flathead County. Imagine the county populace being wiped out and you get some idea of the scale of the disaster.

But Indonesia is only one of the countries with a soaring death toll from Sunday's earthquake-driven tsunamis. The catastrophe has claimed well over 100,000 lives and the grim count is far from over.

On top of the deaths, up to 5 million people in the Indian Ocean region do not have access to the basics of life - clean water, shelter, food, sanitation and health care.

Entire villages have been obliterated, hundreds of miles of coastline inundated and the world shocked by the magnitude of this natural disaster.

The stark numbers that launched this - a 9.0 earthquake generating 500-mph waves - are almost as unbelievable as the carnage they created.

But the numbers are only indicators of the human grief and suffering being felt by 12 nations that were hammered by the killer waves.

Now Americans will respond, as they always do during disasters, with unequalled generosity.

How can you help?

The simplest way may be to donate to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Contributions may be sent locally to the Red Cross, 17A First Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901.

Donations of money are the best form of assistance for the relief efforts overseas. Some local churches also are taking up special collections to assist the tsunami recovery.

Montana has lost another of its sons to the war in Iraq.

Marine Cpl. Raleigh Smith was killed last week while on patrol in the dangerous Fallujah region. He leaves behind a heartbroken mother in Troy, and an older brother also in the Marines and scheduled to go to Iraq in March.

Smith shared his experiences in Iraq when he was home in Troy and in letters to his mother, and it was not a pretty picture. "Raleigh saw some things he wished he hadn't seen," one friend said.

A memorial service is planned Jan. 4 in the Troy High School gym.

Let us all honor this brave Montanan, and the others who have fallen in combat in this and other wars, and remember them in our prayers.

Drunken drivers are not just a New Year's Eve phenomenon. Arrests have been filling the county jail for most of the month.

Seven people were jailed for DUI on Dec. 16 - a Thursday. That weekend, 17 people were arrested on DUI charges. On Christmas Eve, nine people went to jail. In fact, every person booked into jail last Friday was charged with DUI - some with other offenses, as well.

It's "typical" for this time of year, according to Sheriff Jim Dupont.

With New Year's Eve falling on a Friday night this year, his department and others plan extra DUI patrols.

They'll take as many drunk drivers off the roads as possible, but we all know the real responsibility lies with ourselves.

It's simple enough. Don't drink and drive. Do whatever it takes to keep the people around you from starting the engine of a car if they've been drinking. Make it an early resolution to welcome in 2005 with all the promise of new year unmarred by preventable tragedy.