Officials said on Monday nearly 4,000 people died in the wake of cyclone Nargis which swept through Burma on Saturday. An estimated 3,000 people are missing. Several hundred thousand of people may be homeless throughout the Irrawaddy delta.
Residents of Burma's biggest city, Rangoon, face the third day of severe shortages of water, power and other essentials as they battle to clean up after the disastrous cyclone.
Older citizens said they had never seen Rangoon, a city of some 6.5 million, so devastated in their lifetimes.
Despite the havoc wreaked by tropical cyclone Nargis across wide swathes of the Southeast Asian country on Saturday, the government indicated that a referendum on the country's draft constitution would proceed as planned on May 10.
Residents of Burma's biggest city, Rangoon, face the third day of severe shortages of water, power and other essentials as they battle to clean up after the disastrous cyclone.
Older citizens said they had never seen Rangoon, a city of some 6.5 million, so devastated in their lifetimes.
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| Residents rebuild their house after cyclone Nargis on the outskirts of Rangoon on May 4. At least 351 people were killed and nearly 100,000 left homeless when tropical cyclone Nargis tore through Burma, razing thousands of buildings and knocking out power lines, state media said. (Photo: AFP) |
"It's only a few days left before the coming referendum and people are eager to cast their vote," the state-owned Burmese language newspaper Myanma Ahlin said on Monday.
Pro-democracy groups in the country and many international critics have branded the constitution as merely a tool for the military's continued grip on power.
Should the junta be seen as failing disaster victims, voters who already blame the regime for ruining the economy and squashing democracy could take out their frustrations at the ballot box.
Some in Rangoon complained that the 400,000-strong military was doing little to help victims after Saturday's storm, only clearing streets where the ruling elite resided but leaving residents to cope on their own in most other areas.
Residents, as well as Buddhist monks from the city's many monasteries, banded together on Monday, wielding axes and knives to clear roads of tree trunks and branches torn off by the cyclone’s 190 kph (120 mph) winds.
With the city's already unstable electricity supply virtually nonfunctional, citizens lined up to buy candles, which doubled in price, as well as water as a lack of electricity-driven pumps left most households dry. Some walked to the city's lakes to wash.
Hotels and richer families were using private generators but only sparingly, given the soaring price of fuel.
Pro-democracy groups in the country and many international critics have branded the constitution as merely a tool for the military's continued grip on power.
Should the junta be seen as failing disaster victims, voters who already blame the regime for ruining the economy and squashing democracy could take out their frustrations at the ballot box.
Some in Rangoon complained that the 400,000-strong military was doing little to help victims after Saturday's storm, only clearing streets where the ruling elite resided but leaving residents to cope on their own in most other areas.
Residents, as well as Buddhist monks from the city's many monasteries, banded together on Monday, wielding axes and knives to clear roads of tree trunks and branches torn off by the cyclone’s 190 kph (120 mph) winds.
With the city's already unstable electricity supply virtually nonfunctional, citizens lined up to buy candles, which doubled in price, as well as water as a lack of electricity-driven pumps left most households dry. Some walked to the city's lakes to wash.
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| Cyclone Nargis knocked out Rangoon’s municipal water supply, forcing residents to rely on backyard wells. (Photo: AFP) |
Public transport was almost at a standstill although airlines announced that Rangoon's international airport had reopened for foreign and domestic flights on Monday.
Most telephone landlines, mobile phones and Internet connections were down.
With the city plunged into almost total darkness overnight, security concerns mounted, and many shops sold their goods through partially opened doors or iron grills.
At least 351 people were killed, including 162 who lived on Haing Gyi island off the country's southwest coast, military-run Myaddy television station reported. Many of the others died in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta.
"The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge," said Chris Kaye, the UN's acting humanitarian coordinator in Rangoon. "The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened."
State television reported that in the Irrawaddy's Labutta township, 75 percent of the buildings had collapsed.
The UN planned to send teams on Monday to assess the damage, Kaye said. Initial assessment efforts had been hampered by roads clogged with debris and downed phone lines, he added.
The Forum for Democracy in Burma and other dissident groups outside Burma urged the military junta on Sunday to allow aid groups to operate freely in the wake of the cyclone.
Most telephone landlines, mobile phones and Internet connections were down.
With the city plunged into almost total darkness overnight, security concerns mounted, and many shops sold their goods through partially opened doors or iron grills.
At least 351 people were killed, including 162 who lived on Haing Gyi island off the country's southwest coast, military-run Myaddy television station reported. Many of the others died in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta.
"The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge," said Chris Kaye, the UN's acting humanitarian coordinator in Rangoon. "The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened."
State television reported that in the Irrawaddy's Labutta township, 75 percent of the buildings had collapsed.
The UN planned to send teams on Monday to assess the damage, Kaye said. Initial assessment efforts had been hampered by roads clogged with debris and downed phone lines, he added.
The Forum for Democracy in Burma and other dissident groups outside Burma urged the military junta on Sunday to allow aid groups to operate freely in the wake of the cyclone.
