The official death toll from Myanmar’s devastating cyclone (Nargis) has now soared to more than 78,000 people, with tens of thousands more said to be missing, as military authorities and aid agencies struggle to bring relief to survivors.
Hundreds of thousands of people are said to be without shelter, food and potable water, and sanitation systems in the five regions declared disaster areas have collapsed.
Assessing the full extent of the damage from Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which slammed into Myanmar packing winds of up to 190km per hour on 3 May, has been a slow and difficult process, with communications severed, and roads blocked, as a result of the storm.
Drinking water contaminated
Hundreds of thousands of people - left homeless after the storm flattened their fragile bamboo and thatch homes - are in urgent need of shelter and clean drinking water, after the flooding contaminated local drinking water supplies, he said.
The rice-growing Irrawaddy region, which is where the storm made landfall, is said to be the worst hit area.
Myanmar authorities have now quietly made formal requests to the UN and foreign governments for help to cope with the humanitarian disaster.
Relief supplies, such as shelter and water purification tablets are urgently needed.
In Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, residents are still struggling to cope without electricity, which has yet to be restored. City dwellers on 5 May were queuing for candles, drinking water, and fuel, but supplies were dwindling, and they told Myanmar journalists that prices of commodities were skyrocketing, due to concerns of imminent shortages.
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