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YANGON, Myanmar - Heavy rains and another potentially powerful storm headed toward Myanmar's cyclone-devastated delta Wednesday. The U.N. warned that inadequate relief efforts could lead to a second wave of deaths.The International Red Cross said in a new estimate that the death toll may already be between 68,833 and 127,990-considerably higher than the government's latest official count of 38,491 dead, announced Wednesday night on state television.The Red Cross said it made the estimate by adding figures gathered in affected areas by other aid groups and organizations and extrapolating the total.An estimated 2 million survivors are still in need of emergency aid, but U.N. agencies and other groups have been able to reach only 270,000 people affected by Cyclone Nargis so far.The junta told visiting Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, however, that it was in control of relief operations and doesn't need foreign experts.Samak went to a government relief center in Yangon and told reporters after returning to Bangkok that the junta has given him the "guarantee" that there are no disease outbreaks and no starvation among cyclone survivors."They have their own team to cope with the situation," Samak said, citing Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein. "From what I have seen I am impressed with their management."International agencies say bottlenecks, poor logistics, limited infrastructure and the government's refusal to let in foreign aid workers have left most of the delta's survivors living in miserable conditions without food or clean water. The government efforts have been criticized as woefully slow.Rain has been pounding the delta all week, and more is expected in the coming days, compounding the difficult task of moving supplies over ruined roads. It also poses significant health risks to survivors of the May 3 cyclone."The weather will exacerbate humanitarian conditions for the homeless, many of whom are living under an open sky," said Elizabeth Griffin, a director of Catholic Relief Services from Baltimore. "Thankfully, no serious outbreaks of bacterial, water or mosquito-borne diseases have been reported, but this could change."The U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said there is a good chance "a significant tropical cyclone" will form within the next 24 hours and head across the Irrawaddy delta area.But other forecasters were unwilling to make such a prediction.Four U.S. Navy ships positioned near Myanmar for relief efforts were alerted to the potential storm, but Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon, said "Right now, it doesn't pose an immediate threat to our ships."The news of a possible second cyclone was not broadcast by Myanmar's state-controlled media. But Yangon residents learned about it from foreign broadcasts and the Internet.Dr. Thawat Sutharacha of Thailand's Public Health Ministry said the junta has given permission to a Thai medical team to go to the delta.The government separately announced that it will allow 160 relief workers from neighboring countries — India, China, Bangladesh, and Thailand — to come to Myanmar. It was not clear if they would be allowed to travel to the delta."The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster," said Amanda Pitt of the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs."We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate and we do not want to see a second wave of death as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday he was convening key donors and Myanmar's neighbors to weigh options for speeding aid to cyclone victims, including a possible international summit.The announcement followed a call from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Ban to visit Myanmar and to convene an emergency U.N. summit to help pressure the regime "to make sure that aid gets to the people of Burma as quickly as possible." Ban said he discussed the suggestions with Brown.The U.N. meeting will discuss "concrete measures we can do from now on" to help people in Myanmar, Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters. "The magnitude of this situation requires much more mobilization of resources and aid workers."The U.N. chief said he has not been able to arrange direct talks with Myanmar junta chairman Senior Gen. Than Shwe, despite repeated calls and letters.Soldiers have barred foreign aid workers from reaching cyclone survivors in the hardest-hit areas, but gave access to an International Red Cross representative who returned to Yangon on Tuesday.
Bridget Gardner, the agency's country head, described tremendous devastation but also selflessness, as survivors joined in the rescue efforts."People who have come here having lost their homes in rural areas have volunteered to work as first aiders. They are humanitarian heroes," she said.Gardner's team visited five locations in the Irrawaddy delta. In one of them, they saw 10,000 people living without shelter as rain tumbled from the sky."The town of Labutta is unrecognizable. I have been here before and now, with the extent of the damage and the crowds of displaced people, it's a different place," Gardner was quoted as saying in a statement.The military, which has ruled since 1962, has taken control of most supplies sent by other countries, including the United States, which began its third day of aid delivery Wednesday as five more C-130 transport planes loaded with emergency supplies headed to Myanmar.Lt. Col. Douglas Powell said a total of 197,080 pounds of provisions — mostly blankets, mosquito nets, plastic sheets and water — have been sent into Myanmar on the eight U.S. military flights.In Washington, the State Department renewed appeals for the junta to allow in outside disaster relief experts and more aid."We want to see the regime do more to allow the outside world to be able to help people in need in that country," deputy spokesman Tom Casey said. "This is not a political issue, this really is simply a humanitarian issue."Myanmar has agreed to attend an emergency meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers to discuss problems in getting foreign aid into the country, Asian diplomats said.Diplomats from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations are to meet Monday in Singapore, according to two Manila-based Southeast Asian diplomats knowledgeable about preparations for the gathering.
Myanmar will send its foreign minister, according to one of the diplomats. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.
As in the days of Noah....
