[Adrienne]

The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as the international community prepared to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.
Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out, the World Food Program said.
Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.
"From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, said in a statement.
Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone, the U.N. said Tuesday, clearing the way for a major relief operation from international organizations.
But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We hope that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that they will act accordingly."
The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations and closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a consequence.
Allowing any major influx of foreigners could carry risks for the military, injecting unwanted outside influence and giving the aid givers rather than the junta credit for a recovery.
However, keeping out international aid would focus blame squarely on the military should it fail to restore peoples' livelihoods.
Some aid agencies reported their assessment teams had reached some areas of the largely isolated region but said getting in supplies and large numbers of aid workers would be difficult.
Shari Villarosa, the top American diplomat in Yangon, told NBC's "Today" show that the cyclone had knocked huge trees in the country's largest city.
"And it blew down a significant portion of them, some of these are 6, 8, 10 stories tall — huge trees, 6 feet, 5 feet in diameter. So they came down on roofs," she said.
The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution that Myanmar's military leaders hoped would go smoothly in its favor, despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement. However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation.
State radio also said that Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24 in 40 of 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which took the brunt of the weekend storm. It indicated that the balloting would proceed in other areas as scheduled.
The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights groups who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on disaster victims.
Myanmar's generals have hailed the referendum as an important step forward in their "roadmap to democracy." It offers the first chance for voters to cast ballots since 1990, and the probability is high they will approve the constitution — a legal framework the country has lacked for two decades.

But critics, including the United Nations, the United States and human rights groups, question whether it will lead to democracy.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates. Washington has long been one of the ruling junta's sharpest critics for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

Source:Print Story: Myanmar cyclone death toll soars past 22,000: state radio on Yahoo! News

[Arielle123]

That's so sad! But what's even worse is that I haven't seen all that much news coverage of it. I've seen a short story here and there but with such a tragedy shouldn't there be more? We don't tend to care quite as much when it happens in other parts of the world it seems.

[Adrienne]

Originally Posted by Arielle123

That's so sad! But what's even worse is that I haven't seen all that much news coverage of it. I've seen a short story here and there but with such a tragedy shouldn't there be more? We don't tend to care quite as much when it happens in other parts of the world it seems.

I haven't seen much news coverage either but I think its more due to the fact that their military doesnt like outsiders. They very suspicious of anyone that comes into the country. Yesterday it was 10,000 and now its double!

[Darla_G]

Thank you very much for posting this. This is an immense tragedy and i hope there is a world wide response in aid.

I know i will contact the Red Cross and make a donation. I would urge anyone who can to help out through an appropriate aid agency to do so.

And unfortunately as a sign of the times be careful who you donate to and make sure they are who they say they are. When that Tsunami hit a few years ago I ended getting a few fake emails that said they were from the Red Cross but in no way were connected with the Red Cross. This is sort of like those bank scams and is called phishing.

[Arielle123]

Originally Posted by ag10v

I haven't seen much news coverage either but I think its more due to the fact that their military doesnt like outsiders. They very suspicious of anyone that comes into the country. Yesterday it was 10,000 and now its double!

Absolutely true - I didn't think of it that way. Either way it's such a tragedy when these things happen anywhere. Thank you for posting the info.

[Jinx]

Where do you guys live??
Everytime I see the news (early morning and 10 pm of the Fox affiliate) they have a segment on it- not in depth, but definitely a recap, the death count, pictures (which I don't want to see), definitely enough info to make sure we know about it.

[Arielle123]

Originally Posted by Jinx

Where do you guys live??
Everytime I see the news (early morning and 10 pm of the Fox affiliate) they have a segment on it- not in depth, but definitely a recap, the death count, pictures (which I don't want to see), definitely enough info to make sure we know about it.

I'm in the twin cities.... I saw an article online the other day. I saw a really short blurb on the news this morning but that's about it.I don't have cnn or anything but I guess I was just surprised that I haven't seen more about it.

[Adrienne]

U.N. eyes plan to force Myanmar to accept aid
Relief workers wait for visas from military regime 5 days after disaster:


MSNBC News Services
updated 29 minutes ago
YANGON, Myanmar - Aid trickled into military-ruled Myanmar for an estimated one million victims of Cyclone Nargis on Wednesday, with the death toll rising to nearly 23,000 and expected to go higher.

With the inundated Irrawaddy delta virtually cut off and frustration growing among aid agencies and governments to deliver supplies, France suggested invoking a U.N. "responsibility to protect" clause without waiting for military approval.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters on Wednesday the idea was being discussed at the United Nations.

State radio and TV, the main official sources for casualties and damage, reported an updated death toll of 22,980 with 42,119 missing and 1,383 injured in Asia's most devastating cyclone since a 1991 storm in Bangladesh that killed 143,000.

Richard Horsey of the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters in Bangkok the death toll was expected to rise "dramatically."

'Major logistical challenge'
"With all those dead mostly floating in the water at this point you can get some idea of the conditions facing the teams on the ground. It's a major logistical challenge," Horsey said.

Experts say Myanmar's ruling military must overcome their distrust of the outside world and open up to a full-scale international relief operation. Horsey said the government "recognizes this is an unprecedented emergency" that needed international involvement.

The United Nations recognized in 2005 the concept of "responsibility to protect" civilians when their governments could or would not do it, even if this meant intervention that violated national sovereignty.

European Parliament president Hans-Geert Poettering urged the junta to give access to international aid and to postpone a controversial constitutional referendum on Saturday.

Thailand, China, India and Indonesia were flying in relief supplies and President Bush and Australia's Prime Minister appealed to the Myanmar government to accept their assistance.

Visa delays
Even relief workers of the United Nations, which has a presence in the diplomatically isolated Southeast Asian country, were awaiting visas five days after Cyclone Nargis struck with 120 mph winds.

Internal U.N. do***ents also revealed Myanmar's government is dragging its feet on giving visas to aid workers who are waiting to help the disaster's survivors.

One of the U.N. do***ents obtained by The Associated Press says: "Visas are still a problem. It is not clear when it will be sorted out."

The comments were made by U.N. officials during a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday to coordinate relief efforts.

It said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon "will contact Myanmar" to arrange a meeting with high-ranking officials on the issue.

Long-term implications?
Political analysts and critics of 46 years of military rule say the cyclone may have long-term implications for the junta, which is even more feared and resented since last September's bloody crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests.

Water purification tablets, plastic sheeting, basic medical kits, bed nets and food were priorities, U.N. officials said.

Most of the victims were swept away by a wall of water from the cyclone that smashed into coastal towns and villages in the rice-growing delta southwest of the biggest city of Yangon.

"We estimate upwards of 1 million people currently in need of shelter and life-saving assistance," Horsey said, adding 1,930 square miles of the delta remained under water.

Hungry crowds of survivors stormed the few shops that opened in the delta on Wednesday. U.N. officials declared the delta a "major disaster". Witnesses said survivors tried desperately to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails.

Source: U.N. may force Myanmar to accept aid - Asia-Pacific - MSNBC.com



Just Wanted to give a quick update on this.

[Adrienne]

MSNBC.com

Official: Storm toll could be 100,000
New numbers show deaths from the Myanmar disaster quadrupling
MSNBC News Services
updated 2:04 p.m. ET, Wed., May. 7, 2008
YANGON, Myanmar - The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that 100,000 may have died in the cyclone that struck over the weekend and that 95 percent of buildings in the affected area are demolished.

Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in the capital Yangon, said food and water are running short in the Irrawaddy delta area inundated by the storm. She called the situation there increasingly horrendous.

Villarosa told reporters there is a risk of disease outbreaks as long as crisis continues.

She said she does not think the military rulers in Myanmar are blocking U.S. assistance because of the Bush administration's administration's past strong criticism of the junta.

Hungry crowds of survivors stormed the few shops that opened in the Irrawaddy delta, where food and international aid has been scarce since the devastating cyclone struck on Saturday, the U.N. said Wednesday.

Corpses floated in salty flood waters, and witnesses said survivors tried desperately to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails. The U.N. said some 1 million people were homeless in the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma.

"Basically the entire lower delta region is under water," said Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid.

"Teams are talking about bodies floating around in the water," he said. This is "a major, major disaster we're dealing with."

Foot-dragging alleged
But internal U.N. do***ents obtained by The Associated Press showed growing frustrations at foot-dragging by the junta, which has kept the impoverished nation isolated for five decades to maintain its iron-fisted control.

"Visas are still a problem. It is not clear when it will be sorted out," according to the minutes of a meeting of the U.N. task force coordinating relief for Myanmar in Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday.

It said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "will contact Myanmar" Wednesday to arrange a meeting with high-ranking officials on the issue.

State television in military-ruled Myanmar, though, said that the government would accept aid from any country and that help had arrived Wednesday from Japan, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand, China, India and Singapore.

Aid continued to trickle into the military-ruled Myanmar for the estimated one million survivors of Cyclone Nargis on Wednesday.

With the inundated Irrawaddy delta virtually cut off and frustration growing among aid agencies and governments to deliver supplies, France suggested invoking a U.N. "responsibility to protect" clause without waiting for military approval.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters on Wednesday the idea was being discussed at the United Nations.

The storm is Asia's most devastating cyclone since a 1991 storm in Bangladesh that killed 143,000.



'Major logistical challenge'
"With all those dead mostly floating in the water at this point you can get some idea of the conditions facing the teams on the ground. It's a major logistical challenge," Horsey said.

Experts say Myanmar's ruling military must overcome their distrust of the outside world and open up to a full-scale international relief operation. Horsey said the government "recognizes this is an unprecedented emergency" that needed international involvement.

The United Nations recognized in 2005 the concept of "responsibility to protect" civilians when their governments could or would not do it, even if this meant intervention that violated national sovereignty.

European Parliament president Hans-Geert Poettering urged the junta to give access to international aid and to postpone a controversial constitutional referendum on Saturday.

Thailand, China, India and Indonesia were flying in relief supplies and President Bush and Australia's Prime Minister appealed to the Myanmar government to accept their assistance.

Long-term implications?
Political analysts and critics of 46 years of military rule say the cyclone may have long-term implications for the junta, which is even more feared and resented since last September's bloody crackdown on Buddhist monk-led protests.

Water purification tablets, plastic sheeting, basic medical kits, bed nets and food were priorities, U.N. officials said.

Most of the victims were swept away by a wall of water from the cyclone that smashed into coastal towns and villages in the rice-growing delta southwest of the biggest city of Yangon.



Military helicopters dropped food and water on Wednesday to survivors in the Irrawaddy delta, where entire villages have been washed away, officials said.

State television on Wednesday quoted Yangon official Gen. Tha Aye as reassuring people that the situation was "returning to normal" in certain areas of Karen state that were hit by the cyclone. He was shown thanking volunteers and visiting the village of Naungbo, outside Yangon, where locals were cutting apart downed trees and brush to clear the roads.

But nearby in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, cyclone victims faced new challenges as markets doubled the price of rice, charcoal and bottled water. Electricity was restored to a small portion of the city's 6.5 million residents, but most, who rely on electric wells, had no water.

At a morning market in the Yangon suburb of Kyimyindaing, a fish monger shouted to shoppers: "Come, come the fish is very fresh."

But an angry woman snapped back: "Even if the fish is fresh, I have no water to cook it!"


Prices double
Vendors sold bottled water at 500 kyat — about 50 cents — a liter, more than double the normal price. A standard 73-pound bag of rice had doubled in price to about $40 — an astronomical price in a country where many scrape by on $2 a day.

The U.N.'s World Food Program said late Tuesday it has begun distributing aid in damaged areas of Yangon, where 800 tons of food had arrived.

But some villages have been almost totally eradicated, and vast rice-growing areas were wiped out by Cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar early Saturday, the WFP said.

Images from state TV showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.

Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined Yangon residents Tuesday in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees that were once the city's pride. Soldiers were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit.

Britain said it will contribute up to about $9.8 million in initial relief funds and will send an emergency field team to help with international relief efforts.

U.S. offers $3 million
The United States said it was giving $3 million to U.N. agencies to help with their efforts. The European Union will provide $3.1 million.

China is providing $1 million in aid, including relief materials worth $500,000, to help with disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts, a spokesman said.

Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami, pledged $1 million in aid on Wednesday.

But the United States and France complained about Myanmar's reluctance to accept direct aid.

President Bush on Tuesday called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the U.S. Navy to help search for the dead and missing. But Myanmar's military, which regularly accuses the United States of trying to subvert the regime, was unlikely to accept U.S. military presence in its territory.

Kouchner said France minimized its aid to about $309,000. He said Myanmar officials are willing to accept aid but insist on distributing it themselves, which he said was "not a good way of doing things."


The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution backed by Myanmar's military leaders as an important step forward on their "roadmap to democracy."

State radio also said Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24 in most of the townships in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy delta. But it indicated that the balloting would proceed in other areas as scheduled.

The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights groups who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on disaster victims.

Military rule
On Wednesday, about 30 Filipino protesters demanded that Myanmar's junta postpone the constitutional referendum and allow the unrestricted entry of international relief.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. Its government has been widely criticized for suppression of pro-democracy parties such as the one led by Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the past 18 years.

At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates.


The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Official: Storm toll could be 100,000 - Asia-Pacific - MSNBC.com

[Darla_G]

Here is the basic problem with the cyclone . A cyclone is sort of like a hurricane in the US and this would have been an equivalent of Category 3. in the US there are about prohibitions in building in low lying areas and houses must be built to withstand the storm surge. the storm surge was only 10 ft in Myanmar but check out this satellite photo,

the area is devasted and primarily under water.

now the problem is compounded by the military government that Myanmar has. Countries donating want to make sure it goes to help the people and not just let the Generals benefit off of this.

The Navy has a ship in the are that could start airlifting water and other supplies but the govt won't let them. This is when a govt does not care at all about their own people only about maintaining control.

very sad and tragic.

[Adrienne]

Thanks Darla G! My coworker and I were talking about this earlier. Basically, where they farm the rice, it's at sea level so everything was already about 12 feet under.

I've also heard that India has warned their gov't that a huge storm was coming. I don't what else is being said but if this is true, something will have to be done for their ignorance.

Relief supplies from the United Nations began arriving in Myanmar Thursday, but U.S. military planes loaded with aid for cyclone victims were still denied access by the country's isolationist regime.

The junta also continued to stall on visas for U.N. teams seeking entry to ensure the aid is delivered to the victims amid fears that lack of safe food and drinking water could push the death toll above 100,000.

Two airplanes carrying high-energy biscuits, medicine and other supplies arrived in Yangon, and two others were to follow, U.N. officials said. The planes had waited for the last two days while the world body negotiated with the military regime to allow the material into the Southeast Asian nation.

In Yangon, the roof of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was blown off and she was living in the dark after the electricity connection to her dilapidated lakeside bungalow was snapped in the cyclone, a neighbor said.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is using candles at night since she has no generator in her home, where she is being held under house arrest, said the neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Eric John told reporters that U.S. and Thai authorities earlier believe they had permission from Myanmar to land U.S. military C-130s. But Myanmar officials later made it clear that this was not the case.

John said it was not clear if they had reversed an earlier decision or if there was a misunderstanding.

Thailand Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej offered to negotiate on Washington's behalf to persuade the junta to accept U.S. aid.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, sent more humanitarian supplies and equipment to a staging area in Thailand. A C-17 transport plane with water and food landed Thursday, joining the two C-130s in place, Air Force spokeswoman Megan Orton said at the Pentagon. Another C-130 loaded with supplies was on its way, she said.

The Navy also has three ships participating in an exercise in the Gulf of Thailand that could help in any relief effort — the USS Essex, the USS Juneau and the USS Harper's Ferry — but Navy officials said they are still in a holding pattern.

The Essex is an amphibious assault ship with 23 helicopters aboard, including 19 that are capable of lifting cargo from ship to shore, as well as more than 1,500 Marines.

Myanmar's generals, traditionally paranoid about foreign influence, issued an appeal for international assistance after the storm struck Saturday. They have since dragged their feet on issuing visas to relief workers even as survivors faced hunger, disease and flooding.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband asked Myanmar's junta to "lift all restrictions on the distribution of aid." The U.N. also called the government to let aid and aid workers in.

"It is imperative at this point that they do open up and allow a major international relief effort to get under way," Richard Horsey, who coordinates U.N. humanitarian aid out of Bangkok, told AP Television News.

The Association of Southeast Nations appealed to the international community to keep sending aid through Thailand.

"Please keep the help coming, keep the contributions coming, and if you have to, go to Thailand, park there and wait for redistribution from there," said ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan.

Myanmar's state media said Cyclone Nargis killed at least 22,980 people and left 42,119 missing, mostly in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta. Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because safe food and water were scarce and unsanitary conditions widespread.

U.N. officials estimated as many as 1 million people were left homeless in Myanmar, which also is known as Burma.

Entire villages in the delta were still submerged from the storm, and bloated corpses could be seen stuck in the mangroves. Some survivors stripped clothes off the dead. People wailed as they described the horror of the torrent swept ashore by the cyclone.

"I don't know what happened to my wife and young children," said Phan Maung, 55, who held onto a coconut tree until the water level dropped. By then his family was gone.

The World Health Organization has received reports of malaria outbreaks in the worst-affected area, and fears of waterborne illnesses surfacing due to dirty water and poor sanitation also remained a concern, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, deputy director of WHO's Southeast Asia office in New Delhi.

"Safe water, sanitation, safe food. These are things that we feel are priorities at the moment," she said.

Even near Yangon, the country's largest city, stricken villagers complained that they had received no government assistance and were relying on aid from Buddhist monasteries.

"The government is not helping us. No aid is coming. There is no money, no rice," said Mu Sanda, one of some 50 people huddled in a monastery dining room converted into an evacuation center in Kyauktan, 15 miles southeast of Yangon.

Even China, Myanmar's closest ally, urged the military junta to work with the international community. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China would give $4.3 million in aid in addition to an initial pledge of $1 million.

Between 30 and 40 visas requested by various U.N. agencies and private relief groups are pending with the Myanmar government, Horsey said.

The U.N. said Thursday it has released $10 million from its emergency relief fund to help the cyclone victims.

UNICEF said it was shipping 3 million water purification tablets — enough to provide clean water to 200,000 people for a week — to from Denmark to Bangkok on Thursday. The agency hopes to transfer the shipment to Myanmar the following day.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said some donors were delaying aid for fear it would be siphoned off to the army.

The World Food Program's regional director, Anthony Banbury, indicated the United Nations had similar concerns.

"We will not just bring our supplies to an airport, dump it and take off," he said. "This is one reason why there is a hold up now, because we are going to bring in not just supplies but a lot of capacity to go with them to make sure the supplies get to the people."

Myanmar's state television Thursday showed Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein distributing food packages to the sick and injured in the delta and soldiers dropping food over villages. The date of the distribution was not given.

Navy vessels from India and planes from Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Laos and Bangladesh had arrived in recent days with medicine, candles, instant noodles, raincoats and other relief supplies, it said.

Although most Yangon residents were preoccupied with trying to restore their lives, activists using the cover of an almost-total power outage have written fresh graffiti on overpasses.

The graffiti include "X" marks — a symbol for voting "no" in a referendum Saturday on a new military-backed constitution. Voting has been postponed until May 24 in Yangon, some outlying areas and parts of the delta heavily damaged by the storm.

State radio said "unscrupulous elements" were spreading rumors of an impending earthquake, a second cyclone and looting in Yangon. Residents say some looting occurred at markets and stores in suburbs of Yangon earlier this week.

Source: Print Story: Official: UN plane lands in Myanmar with aid after cyclone on Yahoo! News