In a situation like this the only thing to do is to be ready to shoulder the cost, whatever it is. The same kind of attitude societies take to fighting a war. "Whatever need to be done, we'll do it." And that's not going to be a few million here and there, it's going to mean billions.

The number who have died so far, which looks like topping 100,000, is just the start. It is estimated that there are five million survivors without the things they need to survive - clean water, food, shelter, medical help.

It's the job of the rest of us, the lucky people who, through no merit of our own, weren't directly affected, to do whatever we can, however much that costs us and disrupts our cosy world. That means being ready to give directly as indivuals, but it also means doing what we can to force our political servants (who we treat as if they were our political masters) to respond adequately on our behalf.