The New Nation - Internet Edition

The death toll in cyclone Nargis that struck Myanmar on Saturday has crossed 22,000 while over 41,000 others were listed missing, according to the state radio. Upto ten lakh people may have been rendered homeless by the cyclone that has flattened homes, wiped out villages and rice growing areas.

However, according to reports reaching Dhaka, the Myanmar government has not succeeded to act fast enough to allow foreign rescue and relief teams in for helping survivors with emergency water, food and medicine supplies and post-disaster rehabilitation.

International aid agencies and foreign countries are mobilising resources to rush in aid to the affected people who never experienced such a powerful sea storm, said to be the worst one ever to hit the second nearest neighbour of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is sending a transport plane load of emergency relief materials in aid of cyclone Nargis victims in Myanmar and more support is in process, Foreign Secretary Tauhid Hossain informed journalists in Dhaka yesterday. Citizens' groups in Dhaka yesterday floated appeals to the people of Bangladesh to donate generously towards a relief fund created to help the Myanmarese people at this hour of need.

Images from Myanmar state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.

"From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge," Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organisation for Migration office in Yangon, said in a statement, according to news agencies.

From what has been gathered from different sources, Myanmar does not have an effective cyclone preparedness programme and its nationals living in the delta area might have been swept unawares by giant sea waves generated by the powerful cyclone that had a maximum windspeed of 240 kilometres an hour.

The U.N. said yesterday Myanmar's military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies for victims of a devastating cyclone. But U.N. workers were still awaiting their visas to enter the country, said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"The government has shown a certain openness so far," Byrs said. "We hope that we will get the visas as soon as possible in the coming hours. I think the authorities have understood the seriousness of the situation and that they will act accordingly."

The appeal for outside assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of international organisations and closely controlled their activities. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, have limited their presence as a consequence.

US President Bush called on Myanmar's military rulers to allow the United States to help with disaster assistance, saying the U.S. already has provided some assistance but wants to do more. "We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilise the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country," he said.

Time is running out fast for the Myanmar government to act and allow international aid agencies to help out its citizens. Further delay might cause death of even the survivors in the cyclone-battered areas for want of water, food and medicine. The cyclone preparedness programme which had sent a team to the US to help disaster management after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, may send teams to Myanmar on an emergency basis to help organise post-cyclone response and help prevent more deaths and enable survivors to piece together things and start life anew. The Myanmar government should not feel 'shy' in asking for foreign help to overcome the ravages of a natural disaster.