Mixed signals from burma over disaster

The Nation May 8, 2008

Many people, including this correspondent, were shocked with the state media's announcement that the death toll of cyclone Nargis had reached 4,000 on Sunday.

As I workfor a daily news service, I was not surprised when they announced 351 deaths on Saturday. This is because, I was informed by an official from Burma's meteorological department which we (DVB) aired on April 30, that the cyclone would hit the Irrawaddy delta, coastal regions and Rangoon on Friday.

If the wind speed was just 64 kilometres per hour as the authority forecast, there would not be much damage. We are hearing reports today of over 22,000 deaths and 40,000 people missing. So, what was wrong? Was the meteorology department playing down the risk, or was it a lack of modern equipment that would have enabled it to give warning of the real ferocity of the cyclone? I have been working in the media for over a decade and I know very well the junta's notorious censorship policy, especially on political news. But I did not think they would hide the facts of a looming disaster after the devastating 20004 tsunami. But my optimism was totally wrong when I read an AFP news report.

"Forty-eight hours before [tropical cyclone] Nargis struck, we indicated its point of crossing [landfall], its severity and all related issues to Myanmar [Burmese] agencies," Indian Meteorological Department spokesman BP Yadav told the French news agency on Tuesday after US First Lady Laura Bush made allegations that the military junta had failed to warn its citizens of the impending storm.

The allegation came not only from the US but also from survivors in the delta region.

"I heard we would be hit by winds of up to 64 kilometres per hour from Myanmar Athan. That's why we were unprepared" said Aye Kyu from Latbutta city where he said about 100,000 people were dead or missing.

He said about 20 people had been killed by collapsing buildings but hundreds of thousands were swept away when the wind and tidal wave hit low-lying areas where dozens of villages literally fell into the sea.

"The winds were over 240 kilometres per hour and the waves higher than my home," he told this correspondent in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

"Victims have nothing and are just lying in the grounds of the monastery and they urgently need food, water, shelter, medicines," he said. The UN should give aid directly to victims, not through the government, he said.

He asked for the referendum, which is due to be held on Saturday, be postponed for two weeks.

"As we are all Buddhists, including the top generals, we should respect the thousands of deaths that have occurred. I believe the survivors are not ready to vote before then."


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