More than 22,000 people were killed in Burma's devastating cyclone and 41,000 are still missing four days after the storm slammed into the country's southern coast, the government said today.
Aid workers were racing to deliver food and water to the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta region, which was submerged by floodwaters, leaving scenes of utter devastation with homeless survivors running low on food and water.
The Australian government will give $3 million in immediate relief. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says $1 million will go to aid agencies such as CARE, World Vision and Caritas, another million to the United Nations World Food Program, and another million to UNICEF.
Witnesses described horrific images of rice fields littered with corpses, and there were fears the death toll could rise much further.
Save the Children, one of the few relief agencies allowed to operate in the secretive and impoverished country, said it expected the toll to climb as high as 50,000.
"If at this stage, only four days in, the government are telling us the numbers are already reaching over 20,000 and there are 40,000 people missing, I think it could well go higher," spokesman Dan Collinson said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it went as high as 50,000," he said.
US President George W Bush urged Burma's military rulers to allow in international help, saying he was prepared to send navy ships to help the recovery.
"We want to do a lot more," he said. "Our message is to the military rulers: let the United States come to help you, help the people."
But the junta insisted foreign aid experts would have to negotiate before being allowed to operate here, and many agencies said they were still waiting for visas to allow their staff into the country.
The government also said it would proceed this weekend with a constitutional referendum as part of its slow-moving "road map" to democracy, except in the areas hardest hit by the disaster.
Burma's pro-democracy opposition reacted angrily, saying it was "extremely unacceptable" for them to go ahead with the referendum and urging the ruling junta to provide meaningful assistance to those in need.
In the government's first news conference since tropical cyclone Nargis barrelled into the Irrawaddy region Saturday, it said that most of the delta town of Bogalay had been washed away.
"Ninety-five per cent of the houses in Bogalay were destroyed," Social Welfare Minister Maung Maung Swe told reporters. "Many people were killed in a 3.5-metre tidal wave."
State television said 21,793 people were killed and 40,695 were missing in Irrawaddy division, while 671 were killed and 359 people were missing in Rangoon, Burma's biggest city.
Satellite images from US space agency NASA showed virtually the entire coastal plain of the country, one of the world's poorest nations, under water.
Christian relief organisation World Vision, also allowed to work inside Burma, said its teams had flown over the most-affected regions and witnessed horrific scenes on the ground.
"They saw the dead bodies from the helicopters, so it's quite overwhelming," Kyi Minn, an adviser to World Vision's office in Rangoon.
"The impact of the disaster could be worse than the (2004 Asian) tsunami because it is compounded by the limited availability of resources on top of the transport constraints," he said.
Video footage of the disaster zone showed flattened villages, smashed bridges, and survivors forced to live out in the open and trying to dry their sodden clothes and blankets.
Aid groups were rushing to bring food, water, clothing and shelter into the country, whose military rulers have long turned their back on the outside world and ignored calls to move towards democracy.
Relief officials said fears were mounting over the spread of disease, and that they faced major logistical problems in getting aid to badly hit regions that are both remote and densely populated.
"Getting it out to the affected populations will be a major challenge, given that there is widespread flooding," said Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangkok.
"The urgent need is for shelter and for water. Without clean drinking water, the risk of disease spreading is the most serious concern."
The UN's World Food Program said it had begun distributing 800 tonnes of food to hardest-hit areas, but that many coastal regions remained cut off due to flooding and road damage.
Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the regime's information minister, said the country was "greatly thankful" for the offers of help that have been pouring in.
But Burma faced criticism over its apparent lack of preparation for the disaster, with US First Lady Laura Bush saying the government had not done enough to warn citizens the storm was approaching.
Indian meteorologists said they warned Burma 48 hours before the storm hit, while the UN's disaster reduction agency said it was clear many people had no time to evacuate.
State television said 21,793 people were killed and 40,695 were missing in Irrawaddy division, while 671 were killed and 359 people were missing in Rangoon, Burma's biggest city.
Satellite images from US space agency NASA showed virtually the entire coastal plain of the country, one of the world's poorest nations, under water.
Christian relief organisation World Vision, also allowed to work inside Burma, said its teams had flown over the most-affected regions and witnessed horrific scenes on the ground.
"They saw the dead bodies from the helicopters, so it's quite overwhelming," Kyi Minn, an adviser to World Vision's office in Rangoon.
"The impact of the disaster could be worse than the (2004 Asian) tsunami because it is compounded by the limited availability of resources on top of the transport constraints," he said.
Video footage of the disaster zone showed flattened villages, smashed bridges, and survivors forced to live out in the open and trying to dry their sodden clothes and blankets.
Aid groups were rushing to bring food, water, clothing and shelter into the country, whose military rulers have long turned their back on the outside world and ignored calls to move towards democracy.
Relief officials said fears were mounting over the spread of disease, and that they faced major logistical problems in getting aid to badly hit regions that are both remote and densely populated.
"Getting it out to the affected populations will be a major challenge, given that there is widespread flooding," said Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangkok.
"The urgent need is for shelter and for water. Without clean drinking water, the risk of disease spreading is the most serious concern."
The UN's World Food Program said it had begun distributing 800 tonnes of food to hardest-hit areas, but that many coastal regions remained cut off due to flooding and road damage.
Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, the regime's information minister, said the country was "greatly thankful" for the offers of help that have been pouring in.
But Burma faced criticism over its apparent lack of preparation for the disaster, with US First Lady Laura Bush saying the government had not done enough to warn citizens the storm was approaching.
Indian meteorologists said they warned Burma 48 hours before the storm hit, while the UN's disaster reduction agency said it was clear many people had no time to evacuate.
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