Today, Reuters reported:

More than 100,000 people may have been killed in the cyclone in Myanmar, a U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday, citing information diplomats were receiving from the devastated Irrawaddy delta region of the Southeast Asian country.

"The information that we're receiving indicates that there may well be over 100,000 deaths in the delta area," said Shari Villarosa, the charge d'affaires of the U.S. embassy in Myanmar. She spoke with reporters by conference call from the capital Yangon.

The complete story can be found at: Myanmar deaths may exceed 100,000: U.S. | Reuters

Originally Posted by aegyptos As of today it looks as if the reactionary military government of Burma is going to reject most outside aid. Pity.

Originally Posted by WI Crippler Thats what I have been hearing. I am not sure the exact history in Burma...

The Myanmar dictatorship's reluctance to allow entry of international humanitarian relief personnel is unconscionable in my opinion. At the same time, it puts the hundreds of thousands of homeless people at risk of disease, a development that could magnify the already catastrophic death toll.

For those who are interested in why the Category 3 cyclone's storm surge proved so devastating, the storm's track and the area's geographic features combined to make the low-lying Ayeyarwaddy Delta a death trap. Nargis' track allowed the storm maximum time and an optimal wind direction to pile the waters up the many tributaries that finger from the Ayeyarwaddy.


Note: Nargis' storm track/storm surge trajectory were overlayed on a Google Earth image of Myanmar.

The video of Nargis' track to landfall can be found at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies' website:
MIMIC

Originally Posted by aegyptos Yet another dysfuctional society resulting from the failure of the British Empire --snip--

A humanitarian catastrophe is the absolute worst time to pursue political agendas, even noble ones such as seeking an end to Myanmar's brutal dictatorship. If anything, even the hint that outside states would seek to erode that regime's grip on power, could lead to its shutting off all humanitarian assistance, as it still controls the country's levers of power. In turn, such a development would greatly magnify the tragedy that is now unfolding. It is already very difficult to get assistance to the cyclone's victims (very limited assistance is being permitted into Myanmar).

In addition, a push for human rights/freedom now could lead others to conclude that those making the push were attempting to leverage an awful catastrophe for political objectives. Such a move would not play well in world opinion. It might actually leave the human rights/freedom cause worse off than it presently is, especially if those making the push were to be blamed and discredited for the consequences that resulted from, let's say, the dictatorship's inhibiting assistance in response to a fresh human rights/freedom effort.

In the end, much as I would prefer to see Aung Syu Kyi freed and the harsh military dictatorship brought to a conclusion, I don't believe this is the time to do it. The sole priority needs to be getting relief to the estimated 1.5 million cyclone victims as quickly as possible.