May 5, 2008

A Cyclone's Terrible Toll

Tropical cyclone Nargis hits hard in Southeast Asia

By Claudia Atticot

A powerful cyclone packing winds of more than 120 miles an hour ripped through the Southeast Asian country of Burma on Saturday. A cyclone is similar to a hurricane. This tropical storm, named Nargis, wreaked havoc in the region.

Officials had previously recorded the death toll at 351. But on Tuesday, the Burmese government confirmed that 22,464 people were dead, 41,000 were still missing and up to one million people were homeless and without food, water or power. This is the country's deadliest storm on record.

KHIN MAUNG WIN—AFP/GETTY IMAGES Residents line up at their neighbor's private wells to collect water after tropical cyclone Nargis destroyed water supplies.

After the Storm

The storm blew roofs off hospitals and knocked out electricity and destroyed roads in the country's largest city, Yangon, and surrounding towns. "The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard," said Chris Kaye, the United Nations acting humanitarian coordinator in Yangon. "The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened." Almost 3,000 people are missing from the low-lying Irrawaddy delta alone. The Red Cross reports that in some villages almost 95% of houses were destroyed and large rice-growing areas were completely wiped out.

"It's clear that we're dealing with a very serious situation," said Richard Horsey, a United Nations spokesman in Bangkok, Thailand. "The full extent of the impact and needs will require an extensive on-the-ground assessment."

A Troubled Past

Since 1962 Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been ruled by the military. In the past, it had been difficult for other countries to send aid to Burma without first receiving a request from the country's military rulers. Organizations like the Forum for Democracy in Burma and other agencies are urging military leaders to allow aid groups to provide much needed support to victims. "International expertise in dealing with natural disasters is urgently required," said Naing Aung, secretary of the Thailand-based group. "The military regime is ill-prepared to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone."

On Monday, United Nations officials and other international aid agencies vowed to send teams to assess the damage. The U.N. has called on the world to send roofing materials, temporary tents, medicine, water purifying tablets, blankets and other relief supplies.

"We have a DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) team that is standing by and ready to go into Burma to help try to assess needs there," said Tom Casey, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman. "The Burmese government has not given them permission, however, to go into the country so that is a barrier to us being able to move forward."

A High Price to Pay

With power out in much of Yangon and the food supply running low, residents face another hurdle—soaring food and fuel prices. Tin Hla and his family moved to a monastery, a home for monks, to seek shelter. He spent an entire morning trying to buy food and water for his family, only to end up with three eggs that were double the normal price. Merchants are charging higher prices because food is scarce and the people are desperate enough to pay more, if they have the money.

"Without my daily earning, just survival has become a big problem for us," says Hla. In Yangon, the price of gasoline rose from $2.50 a gallon to $10 a gallon. Other food and supplies were selling at double and triple the regular prices.

The World Food Program plans to send 500 tons of food and other relief supplies to the region this week. The first planeload of supplies was scheduled to arrive today.

Rescue teams have been able to reach affected areas but getting supplies into the isolated regions was a bit more difficult. "For those places accessible by land, there will be cars and trucks from those areas to meet at the halfway point with vehicles from Yangon," said Horsey. "For remote areas, assessment teams and assistant teams will need to go by helicopters and boats."

A military plane flew from Bangkok, Thailand, earlier today loaded with emergency supplies. Countries around the world say that they are prepared to follow Thailand's lead.

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