A man walks past an uprooted tree in central Yangon on Sunday, a day after the former capital was hit by a cyclone. (Democratic Voice of Burma/Handout, via Reuters)Reuters
YANGON: More than 200 people have been killed in Myanmar by a Category 3 cyclone that ripped through Yangon and the Irrawaddy Delta, where it flattened two towns, officials and state media said Sunday.
Cyclone Nargis had winds of 190 kilometers per hour, or 120 miles per hour, when it hit on Saturday morning. It devastated the nation's main city and littered the streets with overturned cars, fallen trees and debris from battered buildings.
A government official in Naypyidaw, the ruling generals' new capital located 390 kilometers to the north, said the latest death toll was more than 200.
The BBC, citing a report on state television, said that 243 people were dead and more than 20,000 homes were destroyed. MRTV, a state broadcaster, later said the death toll was 241, including 19 in Yangon and 222 killed in Irrawaddy, an area located southwest of the former capital.
United Nations disaster experts said it would be days before the full extent of the damage was known. The death toll could climb further as the authorities slowly make contact with outlying towns and villages along the coast, where weather forecasters had predicted a storm surge of up to 3.5 meters, or about 12 feet.
They are also likely to uncover victims beneath some of the buildings in Yangon brought down by the cyclone, which had been gathering steam for several days in the tropical waters of the Bay of Bengal.
"It was a direct hit on a major city," said Terje Skavdal, the regional head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"The government did warn people to stay inside, and that might have had an impact, but the material damage is enormous for sure," Skavdal said.
The United Nations had made an offer of assistance but was yet to receive a response from the ruling junta, he added.
An official at Yangon International Airport said that all incoming flights had been diverted to the city of Mandalay and that all departures from Yangon had been cancelled. Thai Airways in Bangkok said flights to Myanmar would not resume before Monday.
Official newspapers in Yangon said that only one in four buildings were left standing in Laputta and Kyaik Lat, two towns deep in the rice-producing delta and accessible mainly by boat. There were no details of casualties.
In Yangon, many roofs were ripped off even sturdy buildings, suggesting that damage would be severe in the shantytowns on the outskirts of the sprawling riverside city of five million.
Although the sun was shining by Sunday morning, the former capital was without power and water, and food prices had doubled. Many shopkeepers were unsure when they would be able to replenish stocks. Most stores had sold out of candles.
The military authorities declared five states disaster areas. State media showed footage of soldiers clearing trees from roads, and of Prime Minister Thein Sein, a lieutenant general, meeting with people who had sought shelter in a Buddhist pagoda.
The state media said that four vessels had sunk in the Yangon harbor, and that jetties in the port had come loose.
It remains to be seen what effect the storm will have on a referendum on a military-drafted constitution, which is scheduled for Saturday.
Cyclone Nargis had winds of 190 kilometers per hour, or 120 miles per hour, when it hit on Saturday morning. It devastated the nation's main city and littered the streets with overturned cars, fallen trees and debris from battered buildings.
A government official in Naypyidaw, the ruling generals' new capital located 390 kilometers to the north, said the latest death toll was more than 200.
The BBC, citing a report on state television, said that 243 people were dead and more than 20,000 homes were destroyed. MRTV, a state broadcaster, later said the death toll was 241, including 19 in Yangon and 222 killed in Irrawaddy, an area located southwest of the former capital.
United Nations disaster experts said it would be days before the full extent of the damage was known. The death toll could climb further as the authorities slowly make contact with outlying towns and villages along the coast, where weather forecasters had predicted a storm surge of up to 3.5 meters, or about 12 feet.
They are also likely to uncover victims beneath some of the buildings in Yangon brought down by the cyclone, which had been gathering steam for several days in the tropical waters of the Bay of Bengal.
"It was a direct hit on a major city," said Terje Skavdal, the regional head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"The government did warn people to stay inside, and that might have had an impact, but the material damage is enormous for sure," Skavdal said.
The United Nations had made an offer of assistance but was yet to receive a response from the ruling junta, he added.
An official at Yangon International Airport said that all incoming flights had been diverted to the city of Mandalay and that all departures from Yangon had been cancelled. Thai Airways in Bangkok said flights to Myanmar would not resume before Monday.
Official newspapers in Yangon said that only one in four buildings were left standing in Laputta and Kyaik Lat, two towns deep in the rice-producing delta and accessible mainly by boat. There were no details of casualties.
In Yangon, many roofs were ripped off even sturdy buildings, suggesting that damage would be severe in the shantytowns on the outskirts of the sprawling riverside city of five million.
Although the sun was shining by Sunday morning, the former capital was without power and water, and food prices had doubled. Many shopkeepers were unsure when they would be able to replenish stocks. Most stores had sold out of candles.
The military authorities declared five states disaster areas. State media showed footage of soldiers clearing trees from roads, and of Prime Minister Thein Sein, a lieutenant general, meeting with people who had sought shelter in a Buddhist pagoda.
The state media said that four vessels had sunk in the Yangon harbor, and that jetties in the port had come loose.
It remains to be seen what effect the storm will have on a referendum on a military-drafted constitution, which is scheduled for Saturday.
2 comments:
OMG, this is a dark day for ASEAN. I hope we all can pull together to help out brother (burmese) out of the disaster.
I'm sure the Khmer gov' will do some thing to help out this friend in their dark days of mourning. Best wishes to Burmese people.
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