Cyclone toll could hit 10,000 in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar - The death toll from the cyclone that ripped through Myanmar could reach 10,000, a top government minister said Monday.
Foreign diplomats said Foreign Minister Nyan Win acknowledged the possibility of the high casualty figure at a briefing given to them and representatives of U.N. and international aid agencies.

State radio earlier reported that the official death toll from Saturday's Cyclone Nargis had risen to 3,939 from an original count of 351.
The agencies said they are rushing to prepare assistance for victims of the cyclone.

Relief agency representatives have been meeting in Yangon, Myanmar, as well in Bangkok, Thailand, and Geneva to assess the damage and prepare supplies.

UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau says the U.N. children's agency alone has five teams assessing the situation in the country.

Deadly blast on SaturdayTropical Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian country, also known as Burma, early Saturday with winds of up to 120 mph. The cyclone blew roofs off hospitals and schools and cut electricity in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

The radio station broadcasting from the country's capital, Naypyitaw, said that as many as 2,879 people were unaccounted for in a single town, Bogalay, in the country's low-lying Irrawaddy River delta area where the storm wreaked the most havoc.

The situation in the countryside remained unclear because of poor communications and roads left impassable by the storm.

"It's clear that we're dealing with a very serious situation. The full extent of the impact and needs will require an extensive on-the-ground assessment," said Richard Horsey, a spokesman in Bangkok, Thailand for United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.


"What is clear at this point is that there are several hundred thousands of people in dire need of shelter and clean drinking water," Horsey said. No electricityOlder citizens said they had never seen Yangon, a city of some 6.5 million, so devastated in their lifetimes.

With the city's already unstable electricity supply virtually nonfunctional, citizens lined up to buy candles, which doubled in price, and water since lack of electricity-driven pumps left most households dry. Some walked to the city's lakes to wash.

Hotels and richer families were using private generators but only sparingly, given the soaring price of fuel.
Many stayed away from their jobs, either because they could not find transportation or because they had to seek food and shelter for their families.

"Without my daily earning, just survival has become a big problem for us," said Tin Hla, who normally repairs umbrellas at a roadside stand.

With his home destroyed by the storm, Tin Hla said he has had to place his family of five into one of the monasteries that have offered temporary shelter to those left homeless.


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Dear god,

Please do not play with human life.
Everybody is somebody love ones.
Why are you damaging a beautiful country that is already in trouble?
Please keep the beautiful things.
I know you are fair, please stand up to help those in need.

Thank you.
♥♥