Aid arrives in Myanmar as death toll passes 22,000, but worst-hit area still cut off

Wednesday 07th May, 05:51 AM JST

YANGON, Myanmar —

Aid began to trickle into cyclone-ravaged Myanmar late Tuesday but the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, where nearly 22,000 people perished, was largely cut off from the rest of the world four days after winds, floods and high tidal waves tore through the densely populated region.

With more than 40,000 still missing and as many as 1 million possibly left homeless, the international community was struggling to deliver aid in the military-ruled country, which normally seeks to shut out foreign officials and restricts their access inside the country.

Concerns mounted over the lack of food, water and shelter in the delta as well as diseases spawned by Cyclone Nargis in a country with one of the world’s poorest health systems.

“Our biggest fear is that the aftermath could be more lethal than the storm itself,” said Caryl Stern, who heads the U.N. Children’s Fund in the United States.

The U.N.’s World Food Program said late Tuesday it has begun distributing aid in damaged areas of Yangon, the largest city, where 800 tons of food had arrived, although the coastal regions were mostly out of reach due to flooding and road damage.

Even in Yangon, electricity remained cut for almost all 6.5 million residents, while water supply was restored in only a few areas. Some residents had to wait for nine hours to fill up their gas tanks.

Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined residents in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees that were once the city’s pride. And soldiers were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit, helping to clear trees as massive as 4.5 meters in diameter.

U.S. President George W Bush called on the country’s junta to allow the United States to provide disaster assistance, saying Washington was prepared to move naval assets to help search for the dead and missing.

The U.S. Navy has three ships as well as troops in the Gulf of Thailand, within an easy sail of Myanmar, as part of joint military exercises code-named Cobra Gold scheduled for May 8-21. Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore will also take part in the annual war games.

The Myanmar military, which regularly accuses the United States of trying to subvert the regime, is unlikely to allow U.S. military presence in its territory.

But reflecting the seriousness of the crisis, the government has appealed for foreign aid and also announced Tuesday that it is delaying Saturday’s crucial constitutional referendum in the hardest hit areas.

State radio said Saturday’s vote on the military-backed draft constitution would be delayed until May 24 in 40 of 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven in the delta. It indicated that the balloting would proceed in other areas as scheduled.

Pro-democracy advocates, including the political party of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have denounced the constitution as a tool to perpetuate the grip on power of a military that has become increasingly unpopular.

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

Inadequate warnings about the approaching storm and poor reaction by authorities once it struck is expected to further alienate the general population.

The radio said that most of the 22,464 who died, as well as the 41,000 missing, were in the Irrawaddy delta region. It said 671 were killed in the Yangon area.

Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads as well as roofless houses ringed by water in the delta, a lacework of paddy fields and canals regarded as Myanmar’s rice bowl. Brig. Gen. Kyaw San, the information minister, said tidal waves killed most of the victims in the delta.

The government said it was trying to move in aid and some foreign agencies had managed to send assessment teams, including five from UNICEF.

Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid, said the airport closest to the delta region was located in Yangon.

“The biggest problem will be to reach the affected areas. There will be a huge logistical problem,” he said.

Helicopters and boats would be needed to reach many areas. The delta is riddled with waterways, and Horsey said they are not easily accessible, even during normal times.

“The big concern is waterborne diseases. So that’s why it’s crucial to get safe water in. Then mosquito nets, cooking kits and clothing in the next few days,” he said. “Food is not an emergency priority. Water and shelter are.”

Based on a satellite map made available by the United Nations, the storm’s damage was concentrated over about a 30,000-square-kilometer area along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines—less than 5% of the country.

But the affected region is home to nearly a quarter of Myanmar’s 57 million people.

“Instead of waiting for figures on casualties and damage, it will be practical to send humanitarian aid to victims as soon as possible,” Relief and Resettlement Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Maung Swe told a press conference Tuesday.

A C-130 military transport plane flew from Bangkok to Yangon on Tuesday, where it unloaded rice, canned fish, water and dried noodles, which were transferred to a helicopter which Myanmar military officers said would ferry the supplies to the most stricken areas.

The aircraft, carrying in the first aid from abroad, returned to Thailand after about an hour on the ground at Yangon international airport.

Other countries and organizations said they were prepared to follow.

Britain said Tuesday it will contribute up to 5 million pounds in initial relief funds and also will send an emergency field team to help with international relief efforts and support foreign aid staff already in Myanmar.

The United States, which has slapped economic sanctions on the country, said it likewise stood ready, but that a U.S. disaster team must be invited into the country.

The White House said later Tuesday the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help victims of the cyclone, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.

Other countries, from Canada to the Czech Republic and Singapore, reacted quickly to the crisis with pledges of aid. China said it would provide $1 million to help with disaster relief and rehabilitation.

The European Commission was providing $3.1 million in humanitarian aid while the president of neighboring China, Hu Jintao, promised assistance without offering details.

Until Tuesday, few soldiers were seen helping alleviate conditions in Yangon and while state television showed images of a government truck distributing water, residents said they had not seen any around the city. Instead, people stood in long lines to buy water or carried pails of it from monasteries.

Vendors were selling basic commodities, including rice and edible oil, for twice last week’s prices.

10 Comments

Jyan_Bon at 07:06 AM JST - 7th May

Myanmar junta MUST allow the International AID AGENCIES ,their experts and help get to the cyclone victims in remote delta villages NOW , without further delays. Millions of lives are at risk at this very second.......
apecNetworks at 08:15 AM JST - 7th May

No, due to geopolitical concerns and the political/economic pressures already on Myanmar, it is best to let shipments of supplies to be (air)dropped to areas designated by the Myanmar Govt. The irony is that after the crisis has been addressed, the political/economic pressures will be continued, indirectly promoting poverty and disease. There has been comments by some who wish the country to be economically smashed to promote change of govt.

Air drops of needed supplies circumvent many problems in this politicized world.
Nyein_Chan at 01:03 PM JST - 7th May

Here are some unorganized thoughts about what the INGOs can do to help alleviate the sufferings of the storm victims and how to make the relief materials to the storm-ravaged regions. Use the waterways (not land transport) to transport the relief materials to the Delta region. Why in this world did I hear repeatedly during the past few days that the relief materials cannot be delivered because of the road blocks caused by fallen trees and damaged infrastructure. Send two shiploads of clean water, food (mainly rice and salt), and temporary shelters to the most-severely-affected townships (especially Laputta and Bogalay). These two regions can be reached by ship if not by trucks. You will also need a lot of small/medium-size boats to transport the relief materials from ships to the villages. I heard that, in some townships, the population from the country side has been brought to the nearby towns. So, it is much easier to deliver the relief materials DIRECTLY to the storm victim FAMILES in those towns. Food supplies for a few days (rice and salt) should be IMMEDIATELY delivered to the outskirts of Yangon City. The urban poor do not store food. Even if they have some food, it will be gone either with the storm or after a few days of consumption. The people living in the villages on the other bank of rivers should be given the first priority. The second priority is the people living in the satellite towns such as the poor neighborhoods of Hlaing Thar Yar, Shwe Pyi Thar, Shwe Pauk Kan, Dagon Myo Thit, etc. These people live from hand to mouth and must work every day to earn their daily food. Since the storm interrupted much of the business and they cannot work for a few days, the vulnerable urban poor will run out of food in a few days. The third priority is to provide/sell the roofing materials to the other families.
Nyein_Chan at 01:03 PM JST - 7th May

Don’t SPEND too much on the immediate relief assistance although it is the most visible needs which attract the international assistance most quickly. The rainy season will begin in less than one month. The population without the shelter should and must be moved out of their current temporary shelter and back into their homes WITHIN one month. I am not talking about the most-severely-hit regions. I am talking about the regions where the concerted recovery efforts can produce the most efficient outcome. They need the tin roof and some other building materials. China and/or Thailand (or other ASEAN countries) can donate the tin roof. Although I have no idea about the amount necessary, I certainly know that tin roof and building materials would be needed once we managed the immediate crisis. People will need to go back to their new normal so that they can recover from the tragedy more quickly. WE will also need the agricultural supplies and tools so that the farmers can jump start their farm work once the water subsides and the rainy season begins.
Nyein_Chan at 01:04 PM JST - 7th May

If possible, a (small) plane load of the chain saws and other machineries to cut the trees would be helpful too. If the fallen trees blocking the roads are removed at the current rate manually with big blades, it will take MONTHS to remove the trees, to clean up the roads and to go back to the new normal. (Imagine how long it will take, after a snow storm, to remove the snow manually with shovels.) If we cannot remove the trees blocking the roads, the new normal life cannot be returned and it is going to hinder not only the relief efforts but also the trade. REMEMBER at the end, it is the trade that will feed the twelve-million people in Yangon and Irrawaddy provinces, NOT the international humanitarian assistance. If we cannot return to the new normal – i.e. if the trade and businesses do NOT resume their normal activities – it is the most vulnerable, the urban poor, that suffer.
Jyan_Bon at 11:33 PM JST - 7th May

If Myanmar junta has nothing to hide from the INTERNATIONAL VIEW, there is no reason to delay visas on internationa Aid Agencies. Already the scale of death toll is unnecessarily very high (and rising) because of the junta's incompetence in alerting the population on approaching cyclone. Indian officials said that they had warned the Myanmar officials several times, 48 hours before it hit the delta. As if the matter is not tragic enough for the country, the junta is going ahead with it's planned referendum on voting. How can people go to the poll stations and vote( business as usual),while tens of thousands of our fellow citizens have perish instantly and many thousands more dying of hunger, deseases and exposure. Five days after the disaster the UN and the international help are STILL AWAITING VISA at the neighbouring Thailand while thousands of Burmese are in dire. What is wrong with this junta? No matter which way you look at it the present self-appointed regime is, clearly, not fit to rule the country.
Jyan_Bon at 11:53 PM JST - 7th May

apecNetworks; You cannot air-drop food and medicines into areas 99% of which covered with water.

Nyein Chan: to use the water ways to transport the aid materials, THE NAVY in Burma must organize this. Isn't it that 90% of the country's fuel is reserved for the military use alone? Only military has the wealth of the country, so USE IT.
Jyan_Bon at 02:01 AM JST - 8th May

Cyclone Survivors getting desperate while the junta's foot-dragging attitude continues. The international NGOs made comments that the junta's cooperation with the Aid Agencies is "at best, very slow and at worse non-existance". Read: www.thestar.com/News/World/article/422518 "Cyclone Survivors storm shops" by The Associated Press.
schnauzertdad at 04:20 AM JST - 8th May

On CNN a few minutes ago I read "The information we are receiving indicates over 100,000 deaths," the U.S. Charge D'Affaires in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, said on a conference call. Other countries and world bodies including Britain, Japan, the European Union, China, India, Thailand, Australia, Canada and Bangladesh have also pitched in.

Anybody notice the conspicuous absence of oil rich nations in the Middle East like Iran and Saudi Arabia, and others nations like Russia and Venezuela??? These nations are making an ABSOLUTE KILLING ON OIL AT OVER $120/BARREL. Wouldn't one think they might consider helping a nation that just got decimated? Na...they are to busy raping the world to donate say 3 minutes worth of oil proceeds to help anybody else.
schnauzertdad at 04:27 AM JST - 8th May

I read that receiving foreign aid is in direct conflict with what the Junta is trying to achieve and therefore they are delaying receiving any of it. They do not want the general population to see that other nations will help them. They want them totally under control of the Junta, and ALL good things come from the Junta and nobody else! A massive brain washing scheme to retain control in the country. Sick, but reality. They would rather let their people die from starvation and disease then to let the people receive help from outsiders.