Wow, another massive amount of death and destruction from a natural disaster just 4 years after the 2004 Tsunami.
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YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) – The death toll from the cyclone that ravaged the Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar may exceed 100,000, the senior U.S. diplomat in the military-ruled country said Wednesday
“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.
The U.S. figure is almost five times more than the 22,000 the Myanmar government has estimated.
Little aid has reached the area since Cyclone Nargis hit last weekend, and on Wednesday crowds of hungry survivors stormed reopened shops in the devastated Irrawaddy delta.
The United Nations urged the military junta to grant visas to international relief workers amid estimates of one million homeless.
Charity workers have gathered at Myanmar’s embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, with vehicles, emergency food supplies and medicine, waiting for their visa requests to be approved.
“We need this to move much faster,” said John Holmes, UN humanitarian chief, after reading a statement from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
There were earlier reports of “civil unrest” in the worst-hit areas where people are scrambling for limited food supplies, a U.N. spokesman told CNN.
In the flood-soaked Irrawaddy delta townships, U.N. assessment teams observed “large crowds gathering around shops – the few that were open – literally fighting over the chance to buy what food was available,” World Food Program spokesman Paul Risley said Wednesday from his office in Bangkok.
There were also also reports of price gouging in urban areas around Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city and former capital.
“There were long lines of people trying to buy what food was available, even at those higher prices,” Risley said.
The delta, Myanmar’s rice-growing heartland, has been devastated by Cyclone Nargis, threatening long-term food shortages for survivors, experts said.
We can’t delay on this – this is a huge disaster and the longer (Myanmar) waits the worse it’s going to become," International Rescue Committee spokesman Gregory Beck said.
The Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that five states hit hardest by Saturday’s cyclone produce 65 percent of the country’s rice, The Associated Press reported.
“There is likely going to be incredible shortages in the next 18 to 24 months,” Sean Turnell, an economist specializing in Myanmar at Australia’s Macquarie University told AP.
Holmes said 24 countries had pledged financial support, with a total of $30 million expected in aid.
The WFP, which has started feeding the estimated one million homeless, said there were immediate concerns about salvaging harvested rice in the flooded Irrawaddy delta.
The cyclone battered the country with winds of 240kph (150mph) and 3.5 meter (11.48 feet) storm water surges.
-more-
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/07/myanmar.aidcyclone/index.html