Cyclone Assistance

Morgan Maher

Current estimates report more than 120,000 dead or missing since Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on May 3, 2008.

By comparison 1,836 fatalities were reported from Hurricane Katrina and 2,998 reported dead or missing in the World Trade Center attacks. In Burma, entire towns have been destroyed and more casualties are expected as disease and starvation begin to take hold.

Yet through all this, Burma's ruling military junta has refused or slowed international aid. The U.N.'s World Food Programme reported 38 tonnes of biscuits and medical supplies were impounded at the airport in Yangon. Meanwhile the junta held a rare election to approve a new constitution.

However, the International Burmese Monks Organization have launched a new effort to provide relief through Burma's powerful grass roots network of monasteries. Currently more than $1.4 million have been raised by donations.

Donate here.

 

Photo: Cyclonic Storm Nargis, May 2 near landfall on Myanmar. NASA public domain image.