The U.S. weather agency is facing some stern questioning by members of Congress over whether it did all it could before last weekend's tsunamis.

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The head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says his agency didn't have the phone numbers or the staff to alert all Indian Ocean coastal countries when it saw the first signs that tsunamis could be heading their way.

Conrad Lautenbacher says NOAA did all it was responsible for in warning 26 countries in the Pacific, adding, "We cannot watch tsunamis in the Indian Ocean."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lautenbacher says he's ordered an internal review of its response to the quake and tsunamis. He says he's also asked his staff to look at creating a "rapid reaction" emergency team and a more global warning system.

Powell To Lead U.S. Delegation To Asia

President George W. Bush announced Thursday that he will send a delegation of experts to the areas hit by last weekend's earthquake-tsunami that is blamed for at least 117,000 deaths.

The delegation, to be led by Secretary of State Colin Powell, will make an assessment of the need for further U.S. assistance.

"All Americans are shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of life and the destruction around the Indian Ocean," Bush said in a statement from his Texas ranch.

The delegation will include the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has had experience with hurricane damage in his state.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Thursday he plans to visit India to try to help victims of tsunamis that have left millions of people at risk of disease.

"I feel like I've been hit in the stomach," Frist, R-Tenn., said in an e-mail to friends and supporters. "It is like 9/11 but so different. There is no one to blame."

Frist is a physician who has frequently visited blighted areas worldwide, sometimes performing surgeries.

Frist would leave next week, said his spokesman Bob Stevenson said.

Although UN relief officials have criticized the response by governments to the massive catastrophe, UN secretary general Kofi Annan called the global response "very good." Annan said he is "satisfied" with promises of aid from Western nations, which amount to $500 million so far.

Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday visited the embassies of those nations affected by Sunday's tsunamis.

At the Embassy of Thailand Thursday, Powell extended his "sympathy and condolences," and promised that the Bush administration would follow through on its commitment to help the victims.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Powell said the president "is determined to do what is necessary to deal with this challenge." He said a half-dozen planes from the U.S. Agency for International Development have landed or are on the way to the devastated areas.

Powell also said the United States will provide more emergency aid as officials learn more about the region's needs. So far, the United States has committed $35 million in emergency aid.

Despite concerns about land mines and rebel fighting, the UN's food agency is pushing ahead with food shipments to remote areas hit by the south Asia disaster. World Food Program officials are putting the cost of getting aid to quake-tsunami victims at about $125 million over the next six months.

In Sri Lanka, a WFP convoy of 35 trucks is bringing rice, sugar and lentils to the east and north of the island. An agency spokeswoman said Thursday's shipments will also try to reach areas rebel-controlled areas, where land mines have been a concern.

The agency has so far sent three convoys there, carrying enough food to feed some 122,000 people for about two weeks.

But an initial delivery of aid for a northern Indonesian province has been held up. A spokeswoman said conditions there are "absolutely terrible". Transportation efforts are hampered by lack of gasoline, and lack of jetties or wharfs for mooring boats, she said.

Two more flights have left for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The shipments include high-energy biscuits and water purification tablets.

Warning From Oregon Sends Thousands Fleeing

An Oregon man confirmed that his company warned India that a new earthquake could bring more destruction across Asia.

An Indian government minister called the warning "hogwash" and blamed the consulting company for a panic that sent tens of thousands of people fleeing to higher ground.

Larry Park, who runs the company out of his home near Portland, stood by his warning.

He still predicted there is "a good chance" of another quake coming, but said "a few days' window" until then.

Geologists in Oregon said they had not heard of Park or of his research and are questioning its validity.

Park says he bases his research partly on what he describes as a huge supply of "ether" of the universe that he believes permeates everything and creates energy waves that are not accounted for by current theories of physics.

After the warning was received, tens of thousands of people in southern India made a desperate run for higher ground. Police described refugees fleeing relief camps, and jostling to get into trucks and other vehicles.

Sweden May Have Most Western Deaths From Tsunami

Sweden is bracing for the possibility that it could have more deaths from the tsunamis in Asia than any other Western nation.

So far, Sweden has only confirmed six casualties. But officials warn that number is likely to be much higher, as hundreds or even thousands of Swedes remain unaccounted for.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry said about 1,400 Swedes still have not been heard from in Thailand, a popular destination for tourists. But several travel agencies say that number could be too low. One newspaper puts the number of missing at as many as 4,000.

Sweden's prime minister called the crisis "a catastrophe and tragedy of enormous proportions" and warned that "the number of dead will increase dramatically."

Massive Thai Rescue Operation Scours For Missing

Thailand's largest-ever rescue and relief operation is getting under way amid grim warnings about what workers will find when they reach remote areas.

One senior minister told a TV station that 3,500 bodies were found in one province alone.

Thailand's prime minister said that death toll could soar to nearly 7,000 if most of those listed as missing are found dead.

Aid Workers Arriving To Help Tsunami Survivors

Relief supplies are arriving in south Asia, but getting the essential supplies where they're needed the most is proving to be a challenge.

Shipments including 175 tons of rice and 100 doctors have reached the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh. But there aren't enough cars, gasoline or passable roads to move them.

Relief is also arriving in Sri Lanka, which, next to Indonesia, has the biggest number of deaths from Sunday's disaster. Four planes have arrived, bringing a mobile hospital from Finland and a water purification plant from Germany.

The Red Cross said the planes also carried doctors and medicine from Japan and aid workers from Britain.

But as they wait for aid, survivors are becoming desperate. On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, they fought over packs of noodles that were tossed from military vehicles.

Aid agencies have said food and water are among the most immediate needs of the survivors.

The race is on to try to prevent epidemics and curb food shortages. The U.N. said illness could kill as many as the waves and quake. Reports of measles and diarrhea are already coming in from Sri Lanka. Paramedics in southern India are vaccinating thousands against cholera, typhoid and dysentery. (Click here for that full story.)

U.S. drug and medical companies such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, among others, pledged money, drugs and other products. Hospital system Kaiser Permanente said it would let 5,000 doctors head to the region.

From rural England to Singapore, people are pitching in to help.

Residents in one English village about 35 miles northeast of London are collecting clothes and money for earthquake victims, particularly children, while elsewhere in Europe, Spaniards are depositing money directly into bank accounts set up for tsunami victims.

Italians are also text-messaging their donations.

In Singapore, a newspaper reports cab drivers from one company are carrying donation tins for the local Red Cross branch in their vehicles.

Aid agencies said giving cash is best because it provides the most flexibility.

U.S., Coalition Members Coordinate Relief Response

The United States, Japan, Australia and India have agreed to try to avoid duplicating relief efforts in response to the south Asia disaster, according to a State Department spokesman.

Officials from all four countries participated in a conference call late Wednesday.

Members of Congress have already began sizing up where the next U.S. disaster funds will come from in a budget already stretched by the war on terror and Iraq.

Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said he would recommend using some of the money earmarked for Iraq reconstruction.

The administration has spent little of the $18.4 billion approved by Congress last year for Iraq reconstruction. It said spending has been slowed by security problems.

Indian paramedics have started vaccinating people against cholera, typhoid, hepatitis-A and dysentery.

Hundreds of Web sites hold messages from worried people asking for information about loved ones who were in the region.

Meanwhile, an air base in Thailand that figured prominently in the Vietnam War is being used now in the tsunami relief operation.

Officials said U.S. transport planes and crews are already flying in and out of Utapao. The sprawling base was a hub for U.S. war planes during Vietnam.

The U.S. Embassy in Thailand says Air Force P-3 Orion surveillance planes are flying search-and-rescue mission out of the base and the first transports arrived overnight bearing desperately needed supplies.

The Pentagon says C-130 cargo planes will be hauling relief supplies from a base in Japan and will be used to get "whatever's needed" to affected areas, including emergency airdrops of drinking water.

"There's going to be planes and people zipping off all over the place," a spokesman said.

Crippling Blow To Tourism Industry

The South Asia tsunami disaster may have dealt a crippling blow to the region's vital tourism industry.

Travel agents in Thailand predicted an immediate hit of more than 1 million canceled visits. Thailand counts on tourists for about one-third of its national income.

An estimated 12 million tourists a year head there to soak up the sun, dive on the spectacular reefs and indulge in the nightlife. But they are now scrambling to get out.

The killer waves destroyed accommodations from five-star resorts to $3-a-night bungalows and polluted the air with the smell of death.

The owner of one fishing pier summed it up. He said there are now no tourists and no fishermen.

"We're finished," he said.

Americans Urged To Phone Home

There may have been hundreds or even thousands of Americans in the region struck by the underwater quake and tsunamis. The U.S. government wants to make sure everyone is OK.

Twelve Americans are known to have died. Thailand reported that 20 were dead. Officials believe many of the others are safe, but they want to be sure. So they're issuing an appeal for Americans to check in with loved ones.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said people are calling constantly, saying they haven't heard from a family member.

He said they "shouldn't assume the worst" and that the process of tracking people down "will go on for some time."

Officials have compiled a list of 2,000-3,000 Americans who may be missing and are checking hospitals, morgues, and anywhere else Americans might turn up -- particularly in popular beach resort areas.