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Burma (Myanmar) Cyclone Nargis Disaster Appeal Cyclone Nargis swept across Myanmar on May 2 and 3, triggering a huge tidal wave and leaving around 134,000 dead or missing, according to official figures. But humanitarian agencies say the death toll could soar without a massive increase of emergency food, water, shelter and medicine to the Irrawaddy Delta. The United Nations says up to 2.4 million survivors are struggling to survive in Yangon and the Irrawaddy Delta, the worst affected area.  More details  Watch Myanmar aid relief video.

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Burma (Myanmar) Cyclone Nargis Disaster

Cyclone Nargis swept across Myanmar on May 2 and 3, triggering a huge tidal wave and leaving around 134,000 dead or missing, according to official figures.

But humanitarian agencies say the death toll could soar without a massive increase of emergency food, water, shelter and medicine to the Irrawaddy Delta.

The United Nations says up to 2.4 million survivors are struggling to survive in Yangon and the Irrawaddy Delta, the worst affected area.
The country's ruling generals, who have a deep mistrust of the outside world, were slow to allow international aid flights to land and have been reluctant to let foreign aid workers into the country.
The military government has now agreed to permit the World Food Programme to airlift supplies into the delta and will allow in some medical teams from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Myanmar state TV has reported that 77,738 are dead and 55,917 missing. Independent experts have said the figures are probably higher, with British officials estimating the dead and missing at around 200,000.

To put that in perspective, the colossal Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 claimed around 230,000 lives.

Most of Myanmar's casualties were killed by a 12-foot (3.5 metre) wall of water that hit the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta along with 190 kph (120 mph) winds. The dead include 10,000 who perished in just one town, Bogalay, 90 km (50 miles) southwest of Yangon.
The cyclone is the worst to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people died in Bangladesh. Myanmar's government has estimated the damage at $10 billion.

The ruling generals insist their relief operation is running smoothly, and say they've moved on to the reconstruction phase.

But aid agencies fear there could be a second wave of deaths caused by diseases like cholera, dysentery and malaria. The U.N. World Health Organisation says the peak threat from disease is 10 days to one month after a natural disaster.

Those aid agencies which are operating in the country say they're limited in where they can travel. Extensive flooding in the delta and destroyed or damaged roads are also making it difficult to reach survivors.

Diarrhoea, dysentery and skin infections have already afflicted some survivors crammed into monasteries, schools and other buildings after arriving in towns that were on the breadline even before the disaster. The United Nations says more than half a million people may now be in temporary settlements.

The homeless are clamouring to get into privately run shelters rather than government-run camps. In Bogalay, people have complained of forced labour and low supplies of food at the state-run centres.

Frustrated by the speed of the official response, ordinary people have sent trucks and vans into the delta with clothes, biscuits, dried noodles and rice provided by private companies and individuals. With almost total distrust of the government, private aid is being left for distribution by Buddhist monks, who have immense moral authority.

The authorities have said legal action will be taken against anybody found hoarding or selling relief supplies, amid rumours of local military units expropriating trucks of food, blankets and water.

There has been strong international criticism over the junta's reluctance to let in outside help.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is due in Yangon on Thursday and may have a rare face-to-face meeting with junta supremo Than Shwe, who had refused to take his calls after the disaster.

Ban has said aid workers have so far only been able to reach around a quarter of those in need.

A donor conference is due to be held in Yangon on May 25.

The United States and France have naval ships equipped with aid supplies and helicopters waiting in international waters off the Myanmar coast, although Paris and Washington say they will not go in without the green light from the generals.

Despite the cyclone, the junta went ahead with a referendum on May 10 on a new constitution - part of the army's much-criticised "roadmap to democracy", and said 92 percent voted in favour. The opposition and Western governments say it is a blueprint for the generals to cement their grip on power. Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta since 1962. The referendum was postponed by a fortnight in areas hit by the cyclone.

Some analysts have said the disaster could have political fallout for the regime, which prides itself on its ability to cope with any challenge.

U.N. chief to Myanmar: focus on saving lives

YANGON, May 21 (Reuters) - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon began a mission on Wednesday for Myanmar's cyclone victims, saying "our focus now is on saving lives", as the military government gave approval for foreign helicopters to distribute aid.

The U.N. Secretary-General has said relief workers had so far been able to reach only a quarter of those in need among an estimated 2.4 million people made destitute by the May 2 storm and sea surge that left nearly 134,000 dead or missing.

"We must do our utmost for the people of Myanmar," Ban said when he arrived in the Thai capital, Bangkok, before travelling to Myanmar on Thursday. "Aid in Myanmar should not be politicised. Our focus now is on saving lives."

The United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, are to convene a donors' pledging conference in Yangon on Sunday.

Ban said he would meet the military government's Senior General Than Shwe on Friday.

Than Shwe, who took two weeks after the disaster to meet victims and see the destruction for himself, had declined to take Ban's phone calls earlier in the relief effort.

Diplomats say the general's appearances in public in recent days could be a sign the top brass finally realise the enormity of the destruction and rebuilding from one of the worst cyclones to hit Asia.

The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) said the first of nine helicopters granted permission to airlift supplies into the delta would arrive in Yangon on Thursday from Malaysia.

"These helicopters will provide critical life-saving capacity to bring urgently needed relief supplies to cyclone victims deep in the delta," spokesman Marcus Prior said in Bangkok.

The U.N. says up to 2.4 million people are struggling to survive in Yangon and the Irrawaddy Delta, where refugees from the storm have been begging for food from relief workers.

Yangon-based volunteer Ko Kyaw Khine said authorities in a village he visited on Tuesday used loudspeakers on trucks to tell people not to wait at the roadside because "begging from the donors tarnishes the dignity of the nation".

DECLINES U.S. NAVY OFFER

Permission for the WFP helicopters is one sign the junta is starting to make small but -- in the case of one of the world's most closed countries -- unprecedented concessions to foreign governments and relief agencies appealing for more access to victims.

It has allowed aircraft from several countries, including its fiercest critic the United States, to land in Yangon, but has declined an American offer to send food and equipment from U.S. Navy ships and helicopters in the region.

"We recognise that U.S. citizens by nature are generous and they make generous donations to every region that has come under a natural disaster," a commentary in the junta's main mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, said on Wednesday.

"However, the strings attached to the relief supplies carried by warships and military helicopters are not acceptable to the Myanmar people. We can manage by ourselves," it said.

The generals' distrust of outsiders is even greater after worldwide outrage at last year's crackdown on democracy protests. U.N. sources say they have consistently declined offers of Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean military helicopters.

In another sign the junta was taking the disaster more seriously, flags across the former Burma flew at half mast on the second day of an official three-day mourning period for the victims of the cyclone's winds and sea surge, which destroyed villages and turned roads into rivers of mud.

The government's official toll is 77,738 people killed and 55,917 missing, and it also estimates the damage to one of Asia's least developed economies at $10 billion.

Until this week, the junta's attention appeared to have been on a May 10 referendum on a constitution drafted by the army and intended to precede multiparty elections in 2010. The vote was postponed to May 24 in areas worst-hit by the storm.

Diplomats say the government's attitude, compared unfavourably with neighbour China in dealing with the aftermath of a massive earthquake, appeared to have changed just before Monday's emergency meeting of ASEAN in Singapore."

You can help!

ERF is accepting donations to help children and families affected by cyclone Nargis. Donations will provide immediate emergency relief to survivors and address recovery needs in the coming days and weeks. DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE, please donate generously.  Click here to make a donation on line.

Burma Cyclone Nargis Relief Update from BBC News: