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Every day, the extent of the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis has been revised upwards, from alarming to grim to disastrous-and yesterday it became clear that this is not just a local, but an historic catastrophe.Foreign aid workers in Rangoon have concluded that as many as 50,000 people died in last Saturday’s cyclone, and two to three million are homeless, the worst disaster in the country’s modern history, and of a scale comparable with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.The people’s plight is not helped by the disposition of their Government. Running the country on a combination of internal repression and xenophobia, the junta seems not to have made up its mind that this is a tragedy that it cannot remedy on its own.It certainly was not too concerned when the cyclone approached the Burmase coast. A spokesman for the Indian Meteorological Department revealed yesterday that it had given Burma two days’ warning of Cyclone Nargis. “Forty-eight hours before Nargis struck, we indicated its point of crossing,its severity and all related issues to Burmese agencies,” he said.Weather systems in the Bay of Bengal are tracked by India by satellite.As the generals dithered, President Bush made a direct appeal to the regime yesterday, urging it to open up to foreign aid and offering the assistance of the US Navy, which had two ships within two days’ sailing time of Burma. Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, accused the junta of placing conditions on aid.Britain pledged £5 million and offered an emergency field team to the country...To read more go to:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3883123.ece
As in the days of Noah...
