posted May 05, 2008 02:04 PM            

Yangon (AP): The death toll from a devastating cyclone that swept through Myanmar is 4,000 and could rise to 10,000, the country' foreign minister said on Monday.

State radio said the number of dead in the country's low-lying Irrawaddy River delta from Saturday's Cyclone Nargis had reached 3,939, and that almost 3,000 people in a single town there were unaccounted for.

Foreign diplomats said Foreign Minister Nyan Win acknowledged the possibility of 10,000 dead at a briefing given to them and representatives of UN and international aid agencies. On Sunday, the initial death toll was given as 351.

At the meeting, Myanmar officials appealed for international humanitarian assistance, including urgently needed roofing materials, plastic sheets and temporary tents, medicine, water purifying tablets, blankets and mosquito nets.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was held behind closed doors, said the foreign minister acknowledged 59 deaths in the country's largest city of Yangon.

The government radio station in the capital, Naypyitaw, said 2,879 people were unaccounted for in Bogalay, a town in the Irrawaddy delta where the storm wreaked the most havoc.

The storm left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and without clean drinking water said Richard Horsey, a Thailand-based spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Yangon was without electricity except where gas-fed generators were available. Many roads remained littered with debris.

posted May 05, 2008 05:16 PM            

Last I read, India has a couple of navy ships loading up with relief supplies and the United States has pledged aid awaiting permission from the Junta there to proceed.

posted May 05, 2008 06:03 PM            

It seems much foreign aid is on it`s way now thank God.

It is a day of heartache felt around the world.

juni

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~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted May 05, 2008 09:52 PM              

quote:

---

almost 3,000 people in a single town there were unaccounted for

---

How awful. I hope that those affected can find healing. I hope also that the government will allow the foreign aid to assist those who need it.

------------------
The truth is ... everything counts. Everything. Everything we do and everything we say. Everything helps or hurts; everything adds to or takes away from someone else. ~ Countee Cullen

We are weaving character every day, and the way to weave the best character is to be kind and to be useful. Think right, act right; it is what we think and do that makes us who we are. ~ Elbert Hubbard

posted May 06, 2008 01:47 PM            

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar state radio says the cyclone death toll has risen above 22,000.

A news broadcast on government-run radio said Tuesday that 22,464 people have now been confirmed dead and thousands more are missing.

Cyclone Nargis tore through the country's heartland and largest city, Yangon, early Saturday.

Relief efforts have been difficult, in large part because the storm destroyed roads and communications outlets.

The first assistance from overseas arrived Tuesday from neighboring Thailand.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar officials said on Tuesday the death toll could continue to climb higher than the 14,000 already feared dead from the Southeast Asian nation's devastating cyclone as the international community prepared to rush in aid.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, state radio reported that the government was delaying a constitutional referendum in areas hit hardest.

Myanmar's Information Minister Maj. Gen. Kyaw Hsan confirmed at a news conference that some 4,000 people had died in Yangon and the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region. He added that another 10,000 people could be dead in the delta.

Kyaw said tidal waves killed most of the victims in that region.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted by state-run television as saying that more than 10,000 people had perished in Irrawaddy while a smaller number died in and around Yangon, the country's largest city.

"News and data are still being collected, so there may be many more casualties," he said.

It was not known why the two ministers presented different death tolls.

The World Food Program, which was preparing to fly in food, added its own grim assessment of the destruction: Up to 1 million people may be homeless, some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out.

A state television report gave two different numbers — 59 and 130 — for the dead in what is known as Yangon division. It did not explain the differing tolls.

The country's ruling junta, which has spurned the international community for decades, urgently appealed for foreign aid at a meeting Nyan Win held with diplomats Monday in Yangon.

The U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator said Tuesday the government had indicated it was ready to start accepting international aid. The U.N., Red Cross and other aid organizations have been organizing supplies in preparation for shipping them to the country.

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.

A military transport plane flew from Bangkok to Yangon Tuesday with emergency aid from Thailand while a number of other countries and organizations said they were prepared to follow.

Richard Horsey, Bangkok-based spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid, said Yangon's airport is the closest to the region hardest hit.

"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," he said. "For remote areas, assessment teams and assistance teams will need to go by helicopters and boats."

The delta is riddled with waterways but Horsey said they are not easily accessible, even during normal times.

Based on a satellite map made available by the United Nations, the storm's damage was concentrated over about a 11,600-square-mile (30,000-square-kilometer) area along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines — less than 5 percent of the country.

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

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

"More or less all the landlines are down and it's extremely difficult to get information from cyclone-affected areas. But from the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," said Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, in a statement.

State radio reported Saturday's vote on a draft constitution would be delayed until May 24 in 40 townships around Yangon and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the killer storm.

It indicated that in other areas the balloting would proceed as scheduled.

The appeal for assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of the international organizations and have closely controlled their activities.

Foreign governments were poised Tuesday to rush aid to the devastated nation.

The United States, which has slapped economic sanctions on the country, said it likewise stood ready. The U.S. Embassy is providing $250,000 in immediate aid from existing emergency fund. But first lady Laura Bush said Monday the U.S. would provide further aid only if one of its own disaster teams is allowed into the country.

The European Commission was providing $3 million in humanitarian aid while the president of neighboring China, Hu Jintao, promised $1 million in cash and supplies.

The government had apparently taken few efforts to prepare for the storm, which came bearing down on the country from the Bay of Bengal late Friday. Weather warnings broadcast on television would have been largely useless for the worst-hit rural areas where electricity supply is spotty and television a rarity.

"The government misled people," said Thin Thin, a grocery story owner in Yangon. "They could have warned us about the severity of the coming cyclone so we could be better prepared."

Yangon was without electricity except where gas-fed generators were available and residents lined up to buy candles, which have doubled in price since the storm hit. Most homes were without water, forcing families to stand in long lines for drinking water and bathe in the city's lakes.

Most telephone landlines appeared to be restored by late Monday, but mobile phones and Internet connections were down.

Some in Yangon complained that the 400,000-strong military was only clearing streets where the ruling elite resided but leaving residents, including Buddhist monks, to cope on their own in most other areas.

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.

posted May 07, 2008 12:30 AM            

updated 6:19 p.m. ET May 6, 2008
The following aid agencies are accepting contributions to help those affected by the cyclone in Myanmar.

Nearly 22,000 people were killed and more than 41,000 others were missing in the wake of the cyclone on Saturday. With the death toll expected to mount and as many as 1 million possibly left homeless, the international community was poised to deliver aid to the military-ruled country, which normally keeps out most foreign officials and restricts their access inside the country. Private donations are also being accepted.

The list is from InterAction, a coalition of aid agencies, which can be contacted at InterAction at (202) 667-8227 or http://www.interaction.org.

ADRA International
Myanmar Cyclone Fund
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
(800) 424-ADRA ext. 2372 http://www.adra.org

Action Against Hunger
247 W. 37th St., 10th Floor
New York, NY 10018
(877) 777-1420 http://support.actionagainsthunger.org/donate

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
JDC: Myanmar Cyclone Relief
P.O. Box 530
132 East 43rd St.
New York, NY 10017
(212) 687-6200 http://www.jdc.org

American Jewish World Service
45 W. 36th St., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10016
(800) 889-7146 http://www.ajws.org

American Red Cross
International Response Fund
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013
(800) HELP-NOW http://www.redcross.org

American Refugee Committee
430 Oak Grove St., Suite 204
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 872-7602} http://www.arcrelief.org

AmeriCares
88 Hamilton Ave.
Stamford, CT 06902
(800) 486-4357 http://www.americares.org

Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team
6810 Tilden Lane
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 984-0217 http://www.amurt.net

Baptist World Aid
Myanmar (or Burma) Relief
405 North Washington St.
Falls Church, VA 22046
(703) 790-8980 http://www.bwanet.org

CARE
151 Ellis Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30303
(800) 521-2273 http://www.care.org

CHF International
8601 Georgia Ave., 800
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(866) 779-2CHF http://www.chfinternational.org

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)
2850 Kalamazoo Ave., S.E.
Grand Rapids, MI 49560-0600
(800) 55-CRWRC http://www.crwrc.org

Church World Service
28606 Phillips St., P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
(800) 297-1516 http://www.churchworldservice.org

Concern Worldwide U.S.
104 East 40th St., Suite 903
New York, NY 10016
(212) 557-8000 http://www.concernusa.org

Direct Relief International
27 South La Patera Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93117
(805) 964-4767 http://www.directrelief.org

Episcopal Relief and Development
815 Second Ave., 7th Floor
New York, NY 10017
(800) 334-7626 http://www.er-d.org

Food for the Hungry
1224 East Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034
(800) 248-6437 http://www.fh.org

Habitat for Humanity International
Cyclone Nargis
121 Habitat St.
Americus, GA 31709-3498
(800) HABITAT http://www.habitat.org

International Medical Corps
1919 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 400
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(800) 481-4462 http://www.imcworldwide.org

International Relief Teams
Attn: Myanmar Cyclone
4560 Alvarado Canyon Road, Suite 2G
San Diego, CA 92120
(619) 284-7979 http://www.irteams.org

International Rescue Committee
(Note on checks: Myanmar)
P.O. Box 96651
Washington, DC 20090-6651
(877) REFUGEE http://www.theIRC.org

Latter-day Saint Charities
50 East North Temple, 7th Floor
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
(800) 453-3860, ext. 23544 http://www.lds.org

Lutheran World Relief
P.O. Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
(800) 597-5972 http://www.lwr.org

MAP International Donor Member Services
Myanmar Assistance
P.O. Box 7020
Albert Lea, MN 56007-9931
(800) 225-8550 http://www.map.org

Operation USA
Memo "Myanmar Cyclone"
3617 Hayden Ave., Suite A
Culver City, CA 90232
(800) 678-7255 http://www.opusa.org
Project HOPE
255 Carter Hall Lane
Millwood, VA 22646
(800) 544-4673 http://www.projecthope.org

Relief International
1575 Westwood Blvd., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 478-1200 http://www.ri.org

Save the Children USA
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
(800) 728-3843 http://www.savethechildren.org

United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)
3019674 Myanmar Emergency
P.O. Box 9068
New York, NY 10087
(800) 554-8583 http://www.umcor.org

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
UUSC-UUA Burma Cyclone Relief Fund
P.O. Box 845259
Boston, MA 02284-5259
(800) 388-3920 http://www.uusc.org

U.S. Fund for UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10038
(800) 4UNICEF http://www.unicefusa.org

World Concern
19303 Fremont Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98133
(800) 755-5022, ext.7706 http://www.worldconcern.org

World Emergency Relief
P.O. Box 131570
Carlsbad, CA 92013
(888) 484-4543 http://www.worldemergencyrelief.org

World Vision
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, WA 98063
(888) 56-CHILD http://www.worldvision.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

posted May 07, 2008 12:43 AM            

Thanks for the info!

posted May 08, 2008 11:51 PM            

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's military regime allowed in the first major international aid shipment Thursday, but it snubbed a U.S. offer to help cyclone victims struggling to recover from a tragedy of unimaginable scale.

Five days after the storm, the junta continued to stall on visas for U.N. teams and other foreign aid workers anxious to deliver food, water and medicine to survivors amid fears the death toll could hit 100,000.

Among those stranded in Thailand were 10 members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Air Force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a greenlight.

"We are in a long line of nations who are ready, willing and able to help, but also, of course, in a long line of nations the Burmese don't trust," U.S. Ambassador Eric John told reporters in Thailand's capital, Bangkok.

"It's more than frustrating. It's a tragedy," he said. Each day of delay means "a lot more people suffering," he said.

Myanmar's isolationist regime issued an appeal for international assistance after winds of 120 mph and a storm surge up to 15 feet high pounded the Irrawaddy delta Saturday.

But the junta has been accused of dragging its feet despite emerging reports on entire villages submerged, bodies floating in salty water and children ripped from their parents arms.

"My children were crying all night. There is not enough food. There will be no food this evening," said Daw Thay, who took refuge in a monastery with her three children and her 99-year-old mother in a town 60 miles south of Yangon, the country's biggest city......

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080508/D90HORAO0.html

posted May 09, 2008 08:54 AM            

WFP spokesman Paul Risley said Friday that all "the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated." The shipment included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits.

Risley said it is not clear why the material was seized.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90I3ORG0&show_article=1

Duh, it's not clear why the material..food..was seized by the dictatorship. Duh, not clear?

How many idiots can dance on the head of a pin?

It's perfectly clear why the food was seized and what the dictators intend to do with it...and any other aid which comes their way.

The food will be distributed to their backers, the military and high government officials. It will be used as a weapon against the people it was supposed to help. Just the usual which happens every time there's an emergency in a dictatorship to which the world responds.

posted May 09, 2008 09:11 AM              

------------------
The truth is ... everything counts. Everything. Everything we do and everything we say. Everything helps or hurts; everything adds to or takes away from someone else. ~ Countee Cullen

We are weaving character every day, and the way to weave the best character is to be kind and to be useful. Think right, act right; it is what we think and do that makes us who we are. ~ Elbert Hubbard

posted May 09, 2008 11:58 AM            

I am not saying there is no corruption exhibited by leaders in America. Everything is in plenty here so its not as rampant as in a socialist country.

I think its ok for US to withdraw any monetary/food help to these socialist craps. And start shooting missiles at those leaders bums. That is if they are interested in that country.

Or give them so much wealth/resources that the leaders will then push it to the people.

posted May 09, 2008 03:17 PM              

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/IMD_issued_specific_and_precise_advisories_to_Myanmar_IMD/articleshow/3016493.cms
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/08/myanmar/?iref=mpstoryview
http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=11836
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/world/asia/07aid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7385205.stm

------------------
The truth is ... everything counts. Everything. Everything we do and everything we say. Everything helps or hurts; everything adds to or takes away from someone else. ~ Countee Cullen

We are weaving character every day, and the way to weave the best character is to be kind and to be useful. Think right, act right; it is what we think and do that makes us who we are. ~ Elbert Hubbard

posted May 11, 2008 01:06 PM              

Dear friends,

Staggering new estimates suggest that 100,000 people may have died in Burma's terrible cyclone. Incredibly, the corrupt and brutal Burmese government has stopped most international aid at the borders and is impeding the relief effort.

In under 24 hours, Avaaz members have donated over 690,000 Euros (over US$1 million – more than many governments!) to help Burma's monks provide the emergency relief, through their own networks and monasteries, that the government will not. Scroll down to see the email sent yesterday with all the details of how we can help, or click below to help us get over 1 million Euros (US$1.54m) today:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/15.php
_________________________________________________________

Dear friends,

In the wake of a massive cyclone, a shocking 100,000 Burmese may be dead. More are missing. A million are homeless.

But what's happening in Burma is not just a natural disaster--it's also a catastrophe of bad leadership.

Burma's brutal and corrupt military junta failed to warn the people, failed to evacuate any areas, and suppressed freedom of communication so that Burmese people didn't know the storm was coming when the rest of the world did. Now the government is failing to respond to the disaster and obstructing international aid organizations.

Humanitarian relief is urgently needed, but Burma's government could easily delay, divert or misuse any aid. Yesterday the International Burmese Monks Organization, including many leaders of the democracy protests last fall, launched a new effort to provide relief through Burma's powerful grass roots network of monasteries--the most trusted institutions in the country and currently the only source of housing and support in many devastated communities. Click below to help the Burmese people with a donation and see a video appeal to Avaaz from a leader of the monks:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/15.php

Giving to the monks is a smart, fast way to get aid directly to Burma's people. Governments and international aid organizations are important, but face challenges--they may not be allowed into Burma, or they may be forced to provide aid according to the junta's rules. And most will have to spend large amounts of money just setting up operations in the country. The monks are already on the front lines of the aid effort--housing, feeding, and supporting the victims of the cyclone since the day it struck. The International Burmese Monks Organization will send money directly to each monastery through their own networks, bypassing regime controls.

Last year, more than 800,000 of us around the world stood with the Burmese people as they rose up against the military dictatorship. The government lost no time then in dispatching its armies to ruthlessly crush the non-violent democracy movement--but now, as tens of thousands die, the junta's response is slow and threatens to divert precious aid into the corrupt regime's pockets.

The monks are unlikely to receive aid from governments or large humanitarian organizations, but they have a stronger presence and trust among the Burmese people than both. If we all chip in a little bit, we can help them to make a big difference. Click here to donate:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/15.php

With hope,

Ricken, Ben, Graziela, Paul, Iain, Veronique, Pascal, Galit and the whole Avaaz team

PS: Here are some links to more information:

For more information about Avaaz's work to support the Burmese people, click here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/burma_report_back

For more information about the cyclone, the humanitarian crisis, and the political dimension, see these articles:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/IMD_issued_specific_and_precise_advisories_to_Myanmar_IMD/articleshow/3016493.cms http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/08/myanmar/?iref=mpstoryview http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=11836 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/world/asia/07aid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7385205.stm

-------------------------------------

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To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to info@avaaz.org. You can also send postal mail to our New York office: 260 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10001 U.S.A.

posted May 11, 2008 02:03 PM            

quote:

---

Risley said it is not clear why the material was seized.

---

Update: It was a propaganda exercise. The aid boxes were re-distributed with the general's name pasted on them:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24553511/

Deporable.

Its no secret that logistical work in such situations is simply a catastrophe ATM and in no way are the trasport planes just gonna dump the cargo at the airport and let it just sit there.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=78078

Its ironic that I'll be working in tandem with UNJLC this August.