Monday, May 19, 2008

Cyclone Nargis impact "bigger than Tsunami"

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23714320-2,00.html

begin quote from above url:"A DEEPLY shaken Tim Costello, World Vision Australia's boss, has arrived back from cyclone-ravaged Burma convinced it is "tottering on a precipice".

Cyclone Nargis, which hit two weeks ago, has left nearly 78,000 people dead and another 56,000 are still missing.

After a week and a half in the capital Rangoon, which was virtually unscathed by the hurricane, Mr Costello said there are tens of thousands of people who have yet to receive even the most basic aid.

"It (the cyclone) is going to knock the rice belt of Burma around for years," Mr Costello said."endquote.

Though I agree with the above from everything I'm reading in studying the situation from worldwide reports there also appears to be a local movement among the Burmese people in trying to help the affected victims. One Burmese lady spoke of long lines of people mostly wives and mothers standing begging for rice so they and there families could survive. They told her that it was worth it to wait for three or four hours on the main roads until someone gave them enough rice to survive another day. The lady from Rangoon said she was horrified at just how bad the situation was. Many Burmese feel the government may eventually collapse because of the many many many ramifications not only in Burma but the many effects especially from water born and airborne diseases throughout that part of Asia.

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