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Myanmar struck by Tropical Cyclone Nargis
May 5, 2008
Profiteering is already starting to grip those coping in the storm's aftermath, with prices on food, fuel and building supplies shooting up 300 percent. The General Secretary of the Myanmar Council of Churches reports communication abilities throughout Burma have been compromised. Immediate relief operations are underway through Church World Service with a comprehensive assessment on-going. Global Ministries Southern Asia Office and the CWS Asia Regional Office are in direct contact with the Myanmar Council of Churches. An immediate grant of $5,000 from the UCC One Great Hour of Sharing/International Emergency fund is being sent today. In coming days this initial appeal will be expanded to reflect needed support for longer-term recovery efforts of the Myanmar Council of Churches and its members. Week of Compassion has sent an initial grant of $6000 from the Response Fund to support the CWS appeal and will be providing additional funds as soon as the appeal is revised.
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Thousands of people have been killed or are missing in Burma as Tropical Cyclone Nargis pushed ashore over the weekend. BBC News reports three-quarters of structures in the Irrawaddy region were destroyed by fierce winds, rain and storm surge. A United Nations relief worker in Yangon tells the Associated Press villages in the Irrawaddy Delta have been completely flattened. On Haing-gyi Island, along the country's southwest coast, an estimated 20,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving at least 90,000 homeless.
