Cyclone survivors face new threats unless aid continues

Female workers unload bricks they are carrying Monday in Yangon City, Myanmar.

? Survivors of Myanmar’s Cyclone Nargis face a “second emergency” unless relief efforts receive an influx of $1 billion in international aid over the next three years, according to the first full assessment of the disaster released Monday.

The joint report by the U.N., the Myanmar government and Southeast Asia’s main bloc provides for the first time a comprehensive breakdown of the survivors’ needs in the aftermath of the May 2-3 disaster – details foreign donors have demanded as a condition for aid.

The report puts the damage from the cyclone that devastated the Irrawaddy delta and parts of Yangon at $4 billion. Infrastructure and asset losses amounted to about $1.7 billion and loss of income was estimated at $2.3 billion.

It paints a dismal picture of the impact of the storm, which killed at least 84,537 people. Another 53,836 are missing and presumed dead.

A wall of water destroyed 450,000 homes and damaged 350,000, the report said. About 75 percent of health facilities were damaged, as were 4,000 or more schools.

In mid-June, 55 percent of survivors had rations enough for only one day or less.

“It was a tragedy of immense proportions,” Surin Pitsuwan, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, told a news conference at which the report was released.

Though filled with grim statistics, the report makes no mention of the junta’s slow response to the disaster.

During the first week following the storm, pictures of bodies floating in the water amid reports that soldiers were standing idly by horrified people around the world. The junta stalled in accepting international aid and even physically prevented relief workers from going to the hardest hit areas.

Many in the international community lashed out at the Myanmar government for its response while also trying to cajole the leaders into opening up to aid.

The United Nations’ humanitarian chief, John Holmes, noted that while Myanmar eventually cooperated with the U.N. in humanitarian operations, it was unclear how far that cooperation would extend beyond the storm response.

“I don’t think anyone can say that the Myanmar government is a poster child in international cooperation beyond this narrow field of humanitarian assistance,” he said.