Also, and I hesitate to say this at such an early stage of the relief effort here, but the authorities in India at least, and some other countries in the region, have become quite good at dealing with severe flooding, or earthquakes, catastrophic events on a tsunami scale, if you will.

BBC: NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Lessons in dealing with disaster

In 2005, as Katrina became the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history, Nagin took center stage on behalf of victims when he excoriated the slow pace of federal and state relief efforts, even using profanities.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Atkinson, who in 1999 starred in a Doctor Who special for Comic Relief, said it had been "a secret ambition" of his at one stage to play the Doctor.

BBC: Rowan Atkinson plans stage return