GENEVA - THE government of Myanmar told the United Nations it had warned its population of the devastating cyclone that struck at the weekend, but it lacked a radar to predict the high tidal waves that caused most of the fatalities, the UN weather agency said yesterday.
'The storm surge was the major cause of the disaster,' said Mr Dieter Schiessl, director of the World Meteorological Organisation's disaster risk reduction unit.
Myanmar's meteorology department started to send out warnings six days before Cyclone Nargis hit the coast, based on information from World Meteorological Organisation offices around the world, Mr Schiessl told reporters in Geneva, where the agency is based.
The wind speed was correctly forecast, he said. But 'the problem was the lack of a radar network to monitor the storm', Mr Schiessl said.
Myanmar said it had warned the population in newspapers and in television and radio broadcasts, he said.
But he added that his organisation had been unable to verify how the warning information was used by the authorities and 'what really reached individuals'.
Tropical cyclones hit Myanmar only once in 40 years on average, a reason that preparedness may not have been a top priority for the country, he said.
The international weather organisation is ready to help Myanmar set up a radar system to better monitor future cyclones, Mr Schiessl said, adding that funds were needed for this.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment