In south Asia’s poorest nation, Bangladesh, the passing of Cyclone Sidr has caused an unprecedented swathe of death and destruction. Sidr slammed the highly vulnerable and densely populated low-lying coastal areas along the Bay of Bengal with heavy rains, winds of up to 200 miles an hour and a storm surge. The category five cyclone was possibly the strongest storm to hit the country in recorded history. Deaths numbered in the thousands and damage to homes, crops and livelihoods was extensive, leaving survivors mourning their dead and worrying about the missing. Human solidarity was all that remained: within the Red Cross (ICRC), Red Crescent Societies and several N.G.O. refugee camps, people worked assiduously to identify the corpses massed in communal ditches and to distribute badly needed supplies and medicines.