Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
May 5 , 2008
Thousands of people have been killed or are missing in Burma as Tropical Cyclone Nargis pushed ashore over the weekend. BBC News reports three-quarters of structures in the Irrawaddy region were destroyed by fierce winds, rain and storm surge. A United Nations relief worker in Yangon tells the Associated Press villages in the Irrawaddy Delta have been completely flattened. On Haing-gyi Island, along the country's southwest coast, an estimated 20,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving at least 90,000 homeless.
Profiteering is already starting to grip those coping in the storm's aftermath, with prices on food, fuel and building supplies shooting up 300 percent. The General Secretary of the Myanmar Council of Churches reports communication abilities throughout Burma have been compromised.
RESPONSE: Immediate relief operations are underway with a comprehensive assessment on-going. The CWS Asia Regional Office is in direct contact with the Myanmar Council of Churches and in coming days this initial appeal will be expanded to reflect needed support for longer-term recovery efforts of the Myanmar Council of Churches and its members.
Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be made online, sent to your denomination, or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: MYANMAR (BURMA) CYCLONE NARGIS RESPONSE (#699-A).
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Red Cross workers distribute relief supplies and provide assistance to cyclone-affected villagers in Bogale in the Irrawaddy Delta in this undated handout picture released May 20, 2008. Flags flew at half-mast ...
Email 
Print 
