An early warning system might have prevented some of the casualties. The countries involve respond they can't afford such a system. The U.S. spotted it first, but couldn't reach anyone:

It emerged that U.S. officials who detected the quake tried frantically to warn Asia the deadly wall of water was on its way but there was no official regional alert system to contact.

Assuming that means there was no computer system to link to, what about the telephone? Did anyone call the President of Sri Lanka or the Thai Government or Prime Minister of India? How about the resorts? Did anyone call them to tell them to warn their guests? Maybe in the future, even a simplistic device such as an air raid siren (like the ones in the WWII movies) could signal an impending disaster to the public. Perhaps you don't need a computer system of alerts, you just need someone who does receive advance warning by computer system to pick up the phone and call the affected area and say "Sound the siren."

As huge as this disaster is, it is neither the largest tsunami or earthquake disaster in history. An earthquake in Iran killed 31,000 just a year ago. And,

The tsunami had echoes of another apocalyptic seismic event that originated in Indonesia when the island volcano of Krakatoa erupted in 1883 causing a tsunami that killed 36,000 people.

So what is Bush doing to help? Monitoring the situation from his ranch in Texas where he's "clearing brush" and playing cowboy. He had his staff send letters of condolence.

Update: The U.S. has pledged $15 million to the relief effort.

Update: Phil at the Speculist has some more thoughts on early warning systems and the role the media could play in saving lives.

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