But some help began to arrive Tuesday, as 12 trucks carrying food left a U.N. warehouse in Colombo for the southern and eastern coasts.
A Red Cross plane with 105 tons of blankets, medicine and tarps for 50,000 landed Tuesday, and British aid agency Oxfam said a flight with 27 tons of water and sanitation equipment would arrive today.
In Somalia, the newly elected president lives in exile because of threats from rebels and is hard-pressed to direct any relief efforts in the African nation.
In the United States and around the world, people moved by the disaster offered donations by phone, the Internet and even through text messaging by cellphone. One charity, Mercy Corps, has raised a record $1 million so far, spokeswoman Nancy Lindborg said.
"Many people have connections to these countries. They have friends there and family there [and there is] the sheer human drama, the idea of walking on the beach and the next second having your entire life wiped away," she said.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF received $2 million in two days, spokeswoman Marissa Buckanoff said. "The generosity is unbelievable," she said. "It might have to do with the timing. The disaster happened the day after Christmas and people are in a giving mood."
That generosity must sustain the agencies when attention has subsided.
"In 10 days, after the rescue operations are over and the drama of what has happened has passed, that's when the hard work really begins," said Alfred Ironside, UNICEF's spokesman.
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Who's giving
Donors around the world have pledged more than $120 million to help tsunami victims. Some of the figures:
AUSTRALIA: $7.6 million
AUSTRIA: $1.36 million
BRITAIN: $481,500 for sheets and tents sent to Sri Lanka. Giving $731,258 to EU aid effort and $100,000 to World Health Organization
CANADA: $814,300
CHINA: $2.6 million
CZECH REPUBLIC: $444,400
EUROPEAN UNION: $4 million
FINLAND: $781,200
FRANCE: $135,900
GERMANY: $2.72 million.Germany's largest utility E.ON to donate $1.36 million
JAPAN: $30 million
KUWAIT: Supplies worth
$2 million pledged
NETHERLANDS: $2.72 million
SAUDI ARABIA: $20 million
SINGAPORE: $1.2 million
SPAIN: $1.36 million
SWEDEN: Swedish Red Cross to contribute $750,000
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: $2 million
UNITED STATES: Pledged an initial $35 million
