Tsunami Hit Burma Too
Burmese Government always covers up disaster in the country, fearful that other governments will try to help the countr. Why is help so bad, you ask? well, having to answer why Burma has disalarmingly low levels of health care and human rights are some of the reasons why and also they do not want to lose control. So they never report disasters to other Burmese people, much less the rest of the world. If anyone from the American Red Cross is reading, can you make sure people who need help in Southern Burma - and about 10,00 of them need help (as far as I know) - get it?
thank you! - and I know everyone suspect that the Burmese government is hiding the truth from you. Don't suspect any longer, it's true. Even if they cooperate and tell you it's a very low level of disaster, it is probably untrue also. Come on, the waves went to Somalia and destroyed the beaches there - SOmalia is 3000 miles away. Why would you think the damage is less in Southern Burma, which is just a skip, a hop and step away from Phuket, Thailand? I understand that the damage isn't so severe due to the way Burma is shaped. But please, question the government. Don't just turn away from Burma. Honestly, the government probably doesn't care about the fishing villages, because they do not care about Burmese people in general.
Myanmar fishermen, fearing new tsunami, keep their boats ashore.
Thu Jan 6,12:21 AM ET South Asia - AFP
KHA PYAT THAUNG, Myanmar (AFP) - Fishermen who saw much of their seasonal fishing village swept away by the Indian Ocean tsunamis said they were too scared to return to sea, fearing a repeat of the deadly disaster.
"We dare not go fishing yet," said Mya Mya Win, 47, a mother of four who said she lost all her possessions when the killer waves struck on December 26.
"We have had to share. That's not to say that we are demanding assistance, but we have nothing to eat," she said.
The tsunami killed 17 people, mostly children playing on the beach, when it hit this seasonal fishing village.
The village, 220 miles (352 kilometres) southwest of the capital Yangon in Ayeyarwaddy division, sprang up barely a month ago as families built bamboo and thatch huts for the post-monsoon fishing season.
"I do not want to ever see or hear of a disaster like this. I cried even though I am a mature man," said U Thaung Sein, 54, whose daughter-in-law was killed by the tsunami.
Fears ran so strong of a repeat of the undersea earthquake and giant waves that authorities were now worried about fires, as astrologers advised residents to light candles to ward off another quake.
"The authorities are worrying about people's safety because of these rumors. Most people have followed the astrologers' advice by lighting candles in front of their homes at night to avert the earthquake," said one women in the town of Labutta.
The death toll in the Labutta region stood at 22, while some 1,300 lost their homes, according to a Red Cross official in Labutta.
"Most people were killed while they were watching the tidal wave, which they had never seen before," Maung Maung Myint said.
In the town of Labutta, only a few old buildings and a historic pagoda known as Shin Saw Myat were damaged by the tsunami.
The UN's World Food Program estimated the total number of dead in Myanmar at between 30 and 60 people, the agency's Asia director Anthony Banbury told reporters in Bangkok.
"The exact number of deaths are certainly less than 100 as far as we know," he said. "The devastation has been very limited."
WFP also had identified about 10,000 people in the Ayeyarwaddy division who needed assistance and said many more people further along the coast would likely need aid.
"There are probably several thousand people who would benefit from food assistance there," he said.
The WFP coordinates UN relief actions in the region along with the International Federation of the Red Cross.
Satellite images of isolated Myanmar's shoreline reveal it was not as badly damaged by the deadly tsunami as other countries in the region, US Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Tuesday while touring hard-hit areas in neighbouring Thailand.
Other stories:
Burma Escapes Worst Effects of Deadly Tsunamis VOA News 06-January-2005 2201
Burma's military authorities initially said about 59 people had been confirmed dead. But aid groups were skeptical, because of the ruling military's censorship of the press.
Earlier Thursday, Burmese Prime Minister General Soe Win told an emergency tsunami summit in Jakarta, Indonesia that his government was capable of dealing with the aftermath of the tsunamis.
Some information for this story provided by AP.
PM concerned over Burma tsunami toll
