Admirably put. Nevertheless, under the circumstances, twelve hours isn't nearly as long a time in a disaster area as it is in front of a computer.
Keeping quiet about high death tolls would be prudent at this point if for no other reason than avoiding outsiders looking for more information.
Its not about the outsiders right now. The government is not even letting them back into the area. Its all about saving as many people who's life's are currently threatened. We need ALL resources possible put into play.