An International Rescue Committee emergency team begins to arrive in Myanmar today to assess needs and mount relief efforts for survivors of Cyclone Nargis as the magnitude of the disaster becomes more apparent.

Hundreds of thousands are reported homeless and in desperate need of assistance, but so far, help is scarce. Contacts on the ground in villages outside Yangon tell the IRC that virtually all houses have been destroyed, people have lost their possessions and they are searching for any form of shelter from the elements. Food stocks are diminishing, many towns have no electricity and there are severe water shortages. In the meantime, bodies are scattered across fields, school yards and roads.

"This is a major catastrophe that demands an immediate and robust response," says Greg Beck, the IRC's Asia regional director, currently in Bangkok. "But everything hinges on access. The international aid community needs to get staff and supplies into devastated communities rapidly if we're going to avert further deaths."

The IRC is initially deploying operations, logistics, water and sanitation experts and hopes to bring in medical staff soon for an operation that would provide clean water, sanitation services, shelter materials, other urgent supplies and health care.