PATTAYA, Thailand (CNN) -- Survivors in cyclone-devastated Myanmar are bracing themselves for further hardship following warnings that more bad weather is imminent this week.
Survivors wait for aid underneath a shelter on the side of a road in Bogalay.
Aid agencies estimate that there are around 2 million people who survived Cyclone Nargis on May 3, many of whom are still homeless, and the groups have been able to reach only 270,000 of them so far, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The United Nations estimates that between 63,000 and 100,000 people died as a result of the cyclone, while the ruling military junta has put the figure at less than 30,000.
"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," Amanda Pitt, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs, told AP.
"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate and we do not want to see a second wave of death as a result of that not being scaled up."
Yangon residents discovered news of a second cyclone on foreign broadcasts and on the Internet as it was not broadcast by Myanmar's state-controlled media, AP reported.
"I prayed to the Lord Buddha, 'Please save us from another cyclone. Not just me but all of Myanmar,"' Min Min, whose house was destroyed in Cyclone Nargis, told AP. The rickshaw driver, his wife and three children now live on their wrecked premises under plastic sheets.
"Another cyclone will be a disaster because our relief center is already overcrowded. I am very worried," Tun Zaw, 68, another Yangon resident who is living in a government relief center, told AP.
However, a tropical cyclone expert at City University of Hong Kong told AP that the new storm would probably not be as severe as Nargis because it was already close to land -- and cyclones need to be over sea to gain full strength.
"There will be a lot of rain but the winds will not be as strong," Prof. Johnny Chan said.
No comments:
Post a Comment