Cyclone Deaths in Thousands

More than 1,000 have been confirmed dead in the wake of Thursday's cyclone in Bangladesh, but local news reports double that number, as a virtual national blackout and debris-filled roads have stymied efforts to assess the true brunt of the storm, reports the BBC. "We are expecting that thousands of dead bodies may be found within a few days," says a disaster-relief official.

The struggling rescue effort received a boost today as helicopters began delivering supplies to areas where crops have all but been obliterated: Shrimp farms have simply vanished, and 95% of the upcoming December rice harvest was lost. As communication and power problems persist, elephants have begun clearing roads to remote areas where more than 20,000 homes are believed damaged.