Burma cyclone kills more than 400 people
Pastor Dale Morgan
Burma cyclone kills more than 400 people*
By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent
Last updated: 11:04 PM BST 04/05/2008
More than 400 have been killed in Burma after a tropical cyclone tore
through the country, devastating Rangoon and many rural areas.
State media reported that about 25 people died in the former capital
Rangoon, 120 in Haing Gyi island, and 250 in the Irrawaddy Delta region,
where the 120mph storm came ashore. A state of emergency has been
declared in five regions and the death toll is expected to rise further.
Reports said that 70 per cent of homes were destroyed in two towns on
the delta, a densely populated and low lying coastal area which produces
much of the impoverished country’s rice. On Haing Gyi island, just off
the coast, 92,000 people are reported to be homeless.
Meteorologists had predicted that cyclone Nargis would produce a 12-foot
storm surge when it came ashore.
Electricity and telephone services have been completely knocked out,
roads are blocked and Rangoon airport is closed, largely cutting the
country off from the outside world just days before a referendum on a
contentious new constitution written by the junta.
There was speculation that, with infrastructure crippled and the
population struggling to provide for their basic needs, the vote may
have to be postponed.
A diplomat in Rangoon, a dilapidated city of five million people,
described the scene in an email to Reuters. “Utter war zone,” he wrote.
“Trees across all streets. Utility poles down. Hospitals devastated.
Clean water scarce.”
A United Nations official in the city added: “It’s a bad situation.
Almost all the houses are smashed. People are in a terrible situation.”
In Rangoon harbour four ships reportedly sank.
The Information Ministry said the prime minister and other officials
were heading to Rangoon from the regime’s isolated capital, Naypidaw, to
lead the relief operation. But there was criticism of the government’s
response.
“Where are all those uniformed people who are always ready to beat
civilians?” asked a Rangoon resident, who refused to be identified.
“They should come out in full force and help clean up the areas and
restore electricity.”
The disaster comes at a particularly sensitive time in Burma, as the
regime prepares to push its unpopular new constitution through a
referendum on Saturday. Analysts say the supposedly democratic
constitution will leave most power in the hands of the army.
Nevertheless, the generals’ decision to risk a popular vote at all is
seen as a sign of weakness following last year’s anti-regime protests
led by Buddhist monks.
One of the principal causes of those protests was a dramatic increase in
fuel prices.
The damage caused by the storm to property, infrastructure and
especially crops could have political ramifications if food prices rise
dramatically.