Destructive cyclone required many human lives in Myanmar by Jana Geletkova

The tropical cyclone, packing winds of up to 150 miles (241 km) per hour, slammed into Southeast Asian country – Myanmar early Saturday. Presumed number of victims was more than 300 but this number increased by Monday to almost 4,000 and nearly 3,000 people are unaccounted for in a single town, Bogalay, where the storm wreaked the most havoc.

Older citizen said they had never seen Yangon, a city of some 6,5 million, so devastated in their whole lives. Citizens were also forced to buy candles, which doubled in price, because the city's unstable electricity supply virtually nonfunctional and the lack of electricity-driven pumps left more households dry. Most telephone landlines, mobile phones and Internet connections were down. With the city plunged to the almost total darkness overnight, security concerns mounted, and many shops sold their goods through partially opened door or iron grills.

Earlier Monday, an editor for an independent Myanmar newspaper based in Thailand said that people in the Southeast Asian nation were angry over the response to the disaster by the ruling military junta. Aung Zaw of Irrawaddy said that the communication was down across large area of the country and the casualty figures could rise. Residents, as well as Buddhist monks from the city's many monasteries, banded together on Monday, wielding axes and knives to clear roads of tree trunks and branches torn off by the cyclone.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it has released 200,000 Swiss Francs (about $ 190,000) to help with the aftermath. Working with the Myanmar Red Cross agency, the International Red Cross is distributing drinking water, plastic tarps to cover roofs and blankets, among other items. Neighboring Thailand announced that it would fly some aid on Tuesday.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080505/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_cyclone

by Jana Geletkova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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Edited by: Katarina Zerzanova