THE COLD-HEARTED BASTARD CHRSITIAN GOD STRIKES AGAIN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/07/myanmar.aidcyclone/index.html
YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the
Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000, the senior U.S. diplomat in
the military-ruled country said Wednesday.
"The information we are receiving indicates over 100,000 deaths," said the
U.S. charge d'affaires in Yangon, Shari Villarosa.
The U.S. figure is almost five times the 22,000 the Myanmar government has
estimated.
The U.S. estimate is based on data from an international non-governmental
organization, Villarosa said without naming the group. She called the
situation in Myanmar "more and more horrendous."
"I think most of the damage was caused by these 12-foot storm surges," she
said.
Villarosa also said that about 95 percent of the buildings in the delta
region were destroyed when Cyclone Nargis battered the area late Friday
into
Saturday.
On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice once again called on
the junta to allow aid into the country and said she is speaking with
leaders from other nations who may be able to help persuade Myanmar's
leaders to do so.
"It should be a simple matter," Rice said. "This is not a matter of
politics; this is a matter of a humanitarian crisis, and it should be a
matter that the government of Burma wants to see its people receive the
help
that is available to them, and so we are speaking with governments that
might have influence with Burma."
Myanmar is also known as Burma.
The United States has pledged $3.25 million and offered to send Navy ships
to the region to help relief efforts -- if Myanmar's government agrees.
The U.S. military has flown six cargo helicopters onto a Thai airbase as
Washington awaits permission to go into the south Asian country, two
senior
military officials told CNN's Barbara Starr.
Villarosa said 70,000 people are missing in the Irrawaddy Delta, which has
a
population of nearly 6 million people. The official Myanmar government
figure for the missing is 41,000.
"I can only assume that the longer the delay, the more victims that are
created," Villarosa said.
Little aid has reached the area since Nargis hit, and on Wednesday, crowds
of hungry survivors stormed reopened shops in the devastated Irrawaddy
delta.
The United Nations urged the military junta to grant visas to
international
relief workers amid estimates of 1 million homeless.
A United Nations official said that nearly 2,000 square miles (5,000
square
km) of the hard-hit delta are still underwater.
Charity workers have gathered at Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok, Thailand,
with vehicles, emergency food supplies and medicine, waiting for their
visa
requests to be approved.
"We need this to move much faster," said John Holmes, U.N. humanitarian
chief, after reading a statement from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
There were reports of "civil unrest" in the worst-hit areas where people
are
scrambling for limited food supplies, a U.N. spokesman said.
In the flood-soaked Irrawaddy delta townships, U.N. assessment teams
observed "large crowds gathering around shops -- the few that were open --
literally fighting over the chance to buy what food was available," World
Food Program spokesman Paul Risley said Wednesday from Bangkok.
There were also also reports of price gouging in urban areas around
Yangon,
Myanmar's largest city and former capital.
"There were long lines of people trying to buy what food was available,
even
at those higher prices," Risley said.
The delta, Myanmar's rice-growing heartland, has been devastated by
Cyclone
Nargis, threatening long-term food shortages for survivors, experts said.
"We can't delay on this; this is a huge disaster, and the longer [Myanmar]
waits, the worse it's going to become," International Rescue Committee
spokesman Gregory Beck said.
The Rome, Italy-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates
that
five states hit hardest by Saturday's cyclone produce 65 percent of the
country's rice, The Associated Press reported.
"There is likely going to be incredible shortages in the next 18 to 24
months," Sean Turnell, an economist specializing in Myanmar at Australia's
Macquarie University, told AP.
Holmes said 24 countries had pledged financial support, with a total of
$30
million expected in aid.
The WFP, which has started feeding the estimated million homeless, said
there were immediate concerns about salvaging harvested rice in the
flooded
Irrawaddy delta.
The cyclone battered the country with winds of 240 kph (150 mph) and
3.5-meter (11.48 feet) storm surges.
Damage was also extensive in the country's largest city, Yangon. Much of
the
former capital is without power and littered with debris and fallen trees.
»
CNN's Dan Rivers, the first Western journalist into the devastated town of
Bogalay, said Wednesday that it was difficult to find the words to
describe
the level of destruction. W
"Ninety percent of the houses have been flattened. ... The help that these
people are getting seems to be pretty much nonexistent, from what we've
seen."
He saw members of Myanmar's army clearing roads but handing out little
food
or medicine.
"There has been scant help, really. I think we saw one or two Red Cross
vehicles in the entire time we were driving," Rivers said of his travels
over a 12-hour period. Learn more about Myanmar »
Hundreds of World Vision staff are in Myanmar with limited supplies,
according to spokesman James East.
Tons of supplies have been readied in Dubai and can be brought in quickly
once clearance is given.
"Even when aid comes in, it's going to be a logistical nightmare to get it
out to the remote delta region," East said.
However, Yangon is almost back to normal, World Vision health adviser Dr.
Kyi Minn said. Roads have been cleared of debris, and electricity and
potable water are available.
The Myanmar Red Cross has been handing out relief supplies, such as
drinking
water, plastic sheeting, clothing, insecticide-treated bed nets to help
prevent malaria, and kitchen items, the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.
Other countries and world bodies offering help include Britain, Japan, the
European Union, China, India, Thailand, Australia, Canada and Bangladesh
have also pitched in.
Based on a satellite map made available by the U.N., the storm's damage
was
concentrated over a 30,000-square-kilometer area along the Andaman Sea and
Gulf of Martaban coastlines, home to nearly a quarter of Myanmar's 57
million people.
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