Second severe storm threatens Burma cyclone survivors*

    * Associated Press
    * guardian.co.uk,
    * Wednesday May 14 2008

A second severe storm is forming near Burma less than two weeks after a
cyclone killed tens of thousands of people, the United Nations said today.

A spokeswoman in Bangkok said the UN weather centre was tracking a
tropical storm which could jeopardise efforts to distribute aid to the
survivors of cyclone Nargis.

"This is terrible," Amanda Pitt told reporters. She could not say when
or where the storm would make landfall, or when it would become a cyclone.

"[The survivors] are already weak. This is a great problem and impacts
on how we can help people," she said.

The UN World Meteorological Centre said on its website that "the
potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within
the next 24 hours is good".

It said the centre of the storm was moving north-west across the Yangon
delta region, which refers to the Irrawaddy delta. The area was wiped
out by cyclone Nargis, which has left more than 60,000 people dead or
missing.

The UN is leading the international relief effort, which is trying to
supplement the Burmese military government's aid delivery that has been
criticised by aid groups and survivors as woefully inadequate.

Yet, the isolationist military junta has refused entry to international
experts who have experience in managing humanitarian crises, saying it
is capable of dealing with it on its own.

Some 2 million people are living in miserable conditions, many of them
depending on rain for fresh drinking water, and meager food rations.
Most water sources, such as rivers and canals, which are littered with
bodies and animal carcasses, are also contaminated by faecal matter and
bacteria.