Colin Powell Shocked By Scale of Destruction

The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, admitted yesterday that the scale of destruction caused by the tsunami had taken him by surprise, and that the devastation was worse than anything he had experienced in his career.

Speaking in Banda Aceh after a helicopter had taken him over some of the most affected areas, Mr Powell said: "I've been in war and I've been through a number of hurricanes, tornadoes and other relief operations, but I've never seen anything like this."

The former general's mission to Aceh was designed to give him a better picture of what is needed to rebuild the province ahead of today's summit in Jakarta.

"I cannot begin to imagine the horror that went through the families and all of the people who heard this noise and then had their lives snuffed out by this wave," Mr Powell told a press conference in Banda Aceh.

The retiring secretary of state, who also met Indonesian officials and inspected aid operations at the airport, said it was only by seeing the devastation that he could appreciate what it must have been like for those who experienced it.

"I have never seen anything like it in my experience ... and I have a much better understanding now of what it would take to complete the recovery effort and to help these people rebuild their lives and their homes and their businesses," he said.

Mr Powell toured the area on a US navy Seahawk helicopter, one of a dozen deployed from an aircraft carrier stationed offshore to airlift supplies to survivors along Aceh's west coast.

He promised to send more helicopters to help with the relief operation.

The UN has predicted that the death toll along this coast will rise "exponentially" as the full extent of the damage becomes known. Indonesia's official toll is currently 94,000 dead and about 500,000 homeless.

Mr Powell later flew to Jakarta to prepare for the meeting today which is due to be attended by more than 40 world leaders and ministers.

Britain is represented by the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, on behalf of the G8 nations, and the international development minister, Hilary Benn.

Indonesia's senior welfare minister, Alwi Shihab, who is coordinating the relief mission, said the American assistance and Mr Powell's visit demonstrated that "a friend in need is a friend indeed".

But multinational aid agencies described Mr Powell's trip as "atrocity tourism". Several aid agencies were angered because the trip had clogged up deliveries for almost four hours, preventing the arrival of all other flights and the departure of numerous aid missions and evacuations of severely wounded survivors.

"It's unfortunate when a water buffalo causes the airport to close for hours," said one non-governmental organisation manager, referring to Tuesday's 16-hour closure when a plane damaged its undercarriage and ground to a halt on the runway after crashing into a water buffalo.

"But this caused unnecessary and avoidable delays. It could have cost lives. I don't think he had to come."

Mr Powell tried to limit the disruption by having his plane take off and circle overhead while he was on the ground. This enabled two aeroplanes to take off but none to land.