MYANMAR Cyclone: 22,000 dead; 41,000 missing... and counting

[Motownkid]

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YANGON, Myanmar - The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as the international community prepared to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.

Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out, the World Food Program said.

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

"From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon, said in a statement.

Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone, the U.N. said Tuesday, clearing the way for a major relief operation from international organizations.

But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.


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[chad_tukes]

they said it could be worse than the TSUNAMI.

i feel bad for the country, considering the military junta that runs their government were pretty much isolating the nation ever since it began over a decade ago. karon, mag lisud na hinuon ug tabang ang uban foreign countries nila.

[nab_uang]

grabeh...

gipang-wipeout pa ang rice fields.... expectred momahal pa jud ang bugas...

[Motownkid]

mag outreach program unta ang istorya.net didto..hehehe

[giddyboy]

yeah, i feel bad about this...

this could also happen to the Phils. u know...

[omad]

...and I thought it was in the 5,000 range when the news came out - which is already bad - but 100k? ohh man... [br]_________________________________________________
US diplomat: 100,000 may have died in Myanmar cyclone

8 minutes ago

YANGON, Myanmar - Bodies floated in flood waters and survivors tried to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails, while the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar said Wednesday that up to 100,000 people may have died in the devastating cyclone.
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Hungry crowds stormed the few shops that opened in the country's stricken Irrawaddy delta, sparking fist fights, according to Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program in neighboring Thailand.

Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar, said food and water are running short in the delta area and called the situation there "increasingly horrendous."

"There is a very real risk of disease outbreaks as long as this continues," Villarosa told reporters.

State media in Myanmar, also known as Burma, reported that nearly 23,000 people died when Cyclone Nargis blasted the country's western coast on Saturday and more than 42,000 others were missing.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said Thursday that the cyclone's death toll may rise "very significantly."

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[fabulissimoi]

This is really sad, and a very tragic event. We should try to help them in our own little way.

[cebu-future]

what a life

[cebu-future]

what a life

[taga_ipil]

well that's life...

murag mao man sab ning lugara nga gubot kaayo, grabe ang patay sa mga ethnic.

If this is the way nga ma-peaceful ang usa ka lugar... why not.

same goes diri sa pilipinas ug sa laing lugar.