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Cyclone Death Toll Soars Past 22,000
AP
Posted: 2008-05-06 15:30:34
Filed Under: Myanmar Cyclone, Natural Disaster, World News
YANGON, Myanmar (May 6) - The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on
Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries
mobilized 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.
Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding knives and axes joined Yangon
residents Tuesday 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
15 feet in diameter.
President Bush called on Myanmar's military junta to allow the U.S. to
help.
The White House said the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help
cyclone
victims, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.
"We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have lost
their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation.
But
in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment
teams into the country," he said.
Bush spoke at a ceremony where he signed legislation awarding the
Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi.
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.
"The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We hope
that we will get the visas as soon as possible, in the coming hours. I
think
the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that
they will act accordingly."
The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling
generals,
who have long been suspicious of international organizations and closely
controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International
Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a
consequence.
Allowing any major influx of foreigners could carry risks for the
military,
injecting unwanted outside influence and giving the aid givers rather than
the junta credit for a recovery.
However, keeping out international aid would focus blame squarely on the
military should it fail to restore peoples' livelihoods.
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.
The cyclone came only a week ahead of a key referendum on a constitution
that Myanmar's military leaders hoped would go smoothly in its favor,
despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement.
However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation.
State radio also said that Saturday's vote would be delayed until May 24
in
40 of 45 townships in the Yangon area and seven in the Irrawaddy delta,
which took the brunt of the weekend storm. It indicated that the balloting
would proceed in other areas as scheduled.
The decision drew swift criticism from dissidents and human rights groups
who question the credibility of the vote and urged the junta to focus on
disaster victims.
Myanmar's generals have hailed the referendum as an important step forward
in their "roadmap to democracy." It offers the first chance for voters to
cast ballots since 1990, and the probability is high they will approve the
constitution - a legal framework the country has lacked for two decades.
But critics, including the United Nations, the United States and human
rights groups, question whether it will lead to democracy.
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 Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house
arrest
for almost 12 of the past 18 years.
At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the
military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist
monks and democracy advocates.
Washington has long been one of the ruling junta's sharpest critics for
its
poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a
democratically
elected government.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/cyclone-death-toll-soars-past-22000/20080504064309990001
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