Cyclone Nargis hits Burma by Zuzana Zelenakova

State officials informed on Sunday about cyclone that swept across Burma in Southeast Asia, officially known as Union of Myanmar, that killed over 350 people. Tropical cyclone Nagris hit the areas of Yangon, the largest city in the country, and Irrawaddy delta and destroyed completely at least two towns. “The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge,” said Chris Kaye, humanitarian coordinator from the U.N. “The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened.” On a single island Haingyi, around 200 km southwest of Yangon around 20,000 houses were destroyed. The cyclone came early on Saturday with wind speed of 120 miles per hour. It has been accumulating its strength in the Bay of Bengal for Several days. “Utter war zone,” said one diplomat about the chaos the cyclone have caused. “Tree across all streets. Utility poles down. Hospitals devastated. Clean water scarce.” As if inhabitants of Burma found themselves involved in some catastrophic Hollywood movie. Although the weather improved on Sunday and even sun appeared the former capital Yangon was left without power and water. Also the food prices doubled as a result, because many owners of the shops were not sure when they would have chance to get new stocks. It will take some time until the full extent of the damage is known. The military government that has ruled the country since 1962 got involved into restoration efforts also police and soldiers. The question is what impact will the storm and subsequent actions of government have on the upcoming referendum concerning a new constitution, which is scheduled for May 10. It is part of the process that should result in the end of nearly five decades of military rule, which allows the army hold too much control.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_cyclone;_ylt=Ah2VCH8ASw.h83Xa.FdG9dWs0NUE

by Zuzana Zelenakova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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Edited by: Katarina Zerzanova