Myanmar Cyclone Death Toll Nears 80,000

Figure Is Nearly Double That Of The Junta's Estimate; U.N. To Conduct Fact-Finding Mission

(CBS/AP)  State television reports the official death toll from Myanmar's devastating cyclone earlier this month has climbed to 77,738.

The figure was broadcast Friday night. It was nearly double the figure released a day earlier by the military government.

The official count for the missing also soared to 55,917 - from a figure of 27,838 that had been announced for the past few days.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimated Wednesday that the total death toll may be as many as 128,000. The U.N. has said more than 100,000 may have died.

The U.N. and the Red Cross say 1.6 million to 2.5 million people are in urgent need of food, water and shelter.

John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will go to Myanmar on Sunday to try to convince junta leaders to grant more access for U.N. relief workers and massively scale up aid efforts, said Amanda Pitt, a U.N. spokeswoman in Bangkok, Thailand.

Officials of various U.N. agencies called a news conference in Bangkok to give an update on their relief operations. The most basic data was missing, from the number of orphans to the extent of diseases and the number of refugee camps.

They also couldn't say whether all survivors are in camps, on the move or still living in destroyed villages in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, an area the size of Austria. Cyclone Nargis also pounded Yangon, Myanmar's main city.

"The risk increases with each passing day," Pitt said, referring to the vulnerability of survivors to outbreaks of disease and other problems.

The government said at least 43,318 people were killed and nearly 28,000 went missing when the May 2-3 cyclone turned the low-lying delta into a quagmire of shattered villages and squalid refugee camps ringed by fetid waters.

The Red Cross fears the toll may be as high as 128,000; the U.N. estimates more than 100,000 died.

In the absence of a clear picture, the U.N. estimates some 1.5 million to 2.5 million survivors are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Aid groups have reached only 270,000 so far.

Meanwhile, a top U.S. envoy said Friday that Myanmar's military regime would take foreign diplomats on a tour of the Irrawaddy delta.

Shari Villarosa told The Associated Press that the Foreign Ministry is taking a group of diplomats into the delta on Saturday. Villarosa is the charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy.

It is not clear how much access the diplomats will have outside the controlled tour. Still, it will be the first time diplomats will be seeing first hand the effects of the cyclone as well as the highly criticized relief delivery effort by the government.

The junta has barred foreign aid experts from going to the delta.

The WHO said the first cases of cholera were recorded but could not provide any details. However, WHO's Thailand chief Maureen Birmingham said cholera typically occurs in the delta this time of the year.

The junta insists Myanmar nationals and government agencies, including the military, can handle relief operations, particularly aid distribution.

"We still have obstacles to relief workers getting to the delta region, which doesn't help," Pitt said. "We are concerned about the effects on the people. It is clear, from what everyone is saying, the aid effort is far from over."

The United Nations says the regime has issued 40 visas to its staffers and another 46 to nongovernment agencies but has confined the personnel to the immediate Yangon area.

Marshall, the U.N. official, laid out the hurdles that aid agencies face.

He said the military has set up checkpoints on the two main roads to the delta to keep foreigners out of the disaster zone. Even local staff have to negotiate with the military to gain access to the camps.

"Things will still get done, but they will not be done as effectively, efficiently or as quickly, which means delays, which means increasing risk in terms of health, security and in terms of longer-term rehabilitation and getting back to a normal lifestyle," he said.

The U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF said Friday the agency's fourth flight into Myanmar, scheduled for Saturday, would deliver several tons of food for malnourished children. Radio broadcasts are trying to help lost children find their families, it said.

"At the moment, it is a diffult to know how many children have been seperated or unaccompanied. We still have no indication of how many orphans there may be," said Shantha Bloemen, a UNICEF spokeswoman.

Also scheduled to arrive this weekend are two of 10 tons of medicine and medical equipment from Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, said agency executive Amos Avgar.

In the absence of an organized relief effort by the government, ordinary people are stepping in, with shopkeepers handing out free rice porridge and medical students caring for the sick.

Daw Mya Win, a 49-year-old grocer in a Yangon suburb, cooks rice porridge every day to feed anyone who comes. She also sends pots of it to some of the thousands of homeless sheltering in Buddhist monasteries.

College students are going door-to-door, handing out a few pennies to families for rice.

"Whenever we distribute rice and clothing, I can see the faces of the cyclone victims light up. It is very rewarding to see them smile," said Nyi Nyi, 21.

[mommakat64]

nyeinc.....it''s Shari Villarosa and SHE is the charge d''affaires=the official temporarily in charge of a diplomatic mission in the absence of the ambassador...in this case of the United States of America...who was trying desperately to get help to the Burmese civilians. Like I said before, get your facts straight and quite listening to the Myanmar news service...the generals are liars, and they are not good at it either.

[mommakat64]

nyeinc....what news reports are you getting? Are you getting this stuff from the junta''s news service, or something?! Everybody else agrees with the UN that the generals have been slow on the get-up-and-go. And WHO is slapping WHO in the face?! WE OFFERED HELP IMMEDIATELY!!! Then we negotiated with our Congress to send them more. What does Laura, or Jenna''s marriage, have to do with anything? You''re such a shill for junta, you can''t get your facts straight.

[nyeinc]

Cooper and Shanker report in New York Times with misleading headlines like %u201CAs Toll Rises to 78,000, Myanmar Still Limit Aid%u201D (May 16, 2008). On the contrary, Burmese military government has allowed more aid in and gone so far as allowing U.S to hand the aid directly to INGOs.
"We have four C-130 relief flights that landed in Yangon today. Two of the shipments were handed over directly to NGOs," he said, using the shorthand for non-governmental organizations, or private relief groups. "That is the first time that has happened." "The aid will be distributed via the Emerson Trust, I think it''s about 100,000 tons; and about 400,000 via the World Food Programme. And representatives from Emerson and World Food Programme will be able to travel to affected areas," he said. "We are planning four to five flights for both Saturday and Sunday and it is our hope that some of those shipments again will be handed over directly to international NGOs for distribution in affected areas," McCormack said. (Charles Keyes, U.S Sends Aid through Private Groups in Myanmar, CNN News Online, May 16, 2008)

[nyeinc]

It may be time for Burma to send back French Ambassador to Union of Myanmar to his home country for consultation with his government for one week or so. Or at least, the French Ambassador should be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Union of Myanmar and let be known how his country%u2019s disturbing position has been taken seriously by the government of Union of Myanmar.

[seafang]

wow, AL2008, what rock did you crawl out from under?
Your "mother" as you put it hasn''t been warming since 1998, and actually 1995, except for a short el nino in 1998.
Better batten down the hatches, and prepare for the next 20-30 years of much colder weather (last month was the coldest April worldwide ever recorded). That man made global warming scam has run its course; and if you thought global warming was bad for your "mother" and for people, wait till you see how good cold feels. You can at least grow food in warmth; but you can''t in cold.

Right now on May 15 2008, there are places on earth where the surface temperature is as hot as 120 deg F, and in a couple of months it will be more like 140 F, and at the same time there are places that are at -100 F, and they can get as cold as -130F, and there are people living in all of those places, and at every temperature in between.
So why do you care if the temperature changed by 1 deg F in the last 150 years.

Put a sweater on if it is too cold for your, or a lighter shirt if it is too hot; and quit your griping.

[nyeinc]

Suppose that someone have condemned you, called you names, said that you should be thrown into jail, etc. Then, an emergency situation arrived, demanding outside help. What would you do? What did the Burmese military leaders do?

They swallowed their pride, forgot animosity towards them and asked for help.

Laura Bush then slapped them on the face with more allegations and condemnations, offering $ 250,000 aid. The next day, her husband slapped them on the face again, offering $ 3 million aid a few hours later. Thanks God, what would they do and say again had it not been for their daughter%u2019s wedding?

Burmese generals quietly took the slap, and took in the relief materials from U.S., also inviting the relief workers and experts from more trustworthy and friendly neighbors.

Now you guys are saying in the media, using your loud speakers, as if the Burmese military government has refused the aid for its people; as if you care for their people more than they do.

In addition, you believe what a U.S Admiral who has been in the country for two hours know about the situation on the ground more than the Burmese generals who have been all over the cyclone-hit areas by helicopters. You also believe that the Americans and the Westerners care about Burmese than the Burmese generals.

What is the difference between the public brainwashed by the self-censored, biased, free media and the public brainwashed by the government-controlled, government-censored media?

[al2008-2009]

I*m appalled at the administration*s lack of response to the global warming hurricanes, and cyclones as well. We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate the effects of these cyclones, and mother earth continues to suffer while the administration refuses to go forward and do what*s right for mother earth.
.
How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put responsible regulations into effect? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope.
.
We the people call upon our leaders to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these cyclones and storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms cease. We need action now.

[nyeinc]

Does anyone now have the detailed GIS maps (village-level) of the cyclone affected areas? Burmese government and UN will need the detailed GIS maps to coordinate the relief efforts.

Currently, some villages, usually those closer to the roads and waterways, got more assistance because the aid agencies and individual donors reach there more, in addition to government aid. Other villages farther away from the roads and waterways got almost no HELP except sparse government aid.

Even in the more accessible areas, some are getting more aid than others. The authorities and the aid agencies would need to devise a system to track who has gotten aid and daily (weekly) food ration and who hasn%u2019t. The inerasable ink marks (not easily erasable with water and gasoline) on the forearms of aid recipients with dates might do the job.

The Burmese authorities are more open to technical advice and expertise like GIS.