Burma: Forecasting Cyclones and Weather Disasters | Newsweek Science

BURMA
'A Bad Omen'
Melinda Liu 5/8/2008 12:00:00 AM
Burma remains one of Southeast Asia's most opaque and isolated societies, frustrating analysts who're trying to find out more about the horrific Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy delta. Irrawaddy Magazine, based in the northern Thai city of Chiangmai, is a familiar resource to Burma watchers trying to monitor political events inside the country. Edited by Burmese exiles in Thailand, the magazine and its Web site have carried firsthand reports from inside Burma about cyclone survivors surrounded by bloated corpses, apparent outbreaks of disease, the low profile maintained by senior military leaders and mounting civilian anger at the regime's inadequate response to the calamity. Irriwaddy editor Aung Zaw spoke on the phone with NEWSWEEK's Melinda Liu about what the exiles are being told about the mood inside the devastated areas of Burma, which the regime calls Myanmar. Excerpts:
BURMA
‘A Tragic Situation’
Daniel Stone 5/5/2008 12:00:00 AM
The exact death toll is still unknown. But the United Nations already estimates that more than 10,000 people lost their lives and thousands more were displaced in the cyclone that devastated Burma over the weekend. That makes it the most devastating disaster to hit the region since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 180,000 residents of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.
WORLD AFFAIRS
Winds of Change
Melinda Liu
The massive storm that hit Burma on May 2 could not have come at a worse time for the generals who rule the country. As Cyclone Nargis raged toward them across the Indian Ocean, Burma's military government was busy preparing for a referendum—originally scheduled for May 10—they hoped would ratify a new constitution legalizing military rule.
Disaster Fatigue

Bangladesh needs bailing outagain. The cyclone that tore into the southeastern coast last week was the worst storm to hit the nation in two decades. Winds up to 145 mph drove a 20-foot-high tidal wall of water over a dozen low-lying islands and onto the mainland. When the waters receded, more than 125,000 people were dead and some 9 million left homeless. No one had seen destruction on such a terrifying scale since the 1970 cyclone, and the famine that followed, which killed between 300,000 and 1 million people. The storm's havoc, flooding more than 20,000 square miles, hobbled relief efforts. Six Bangladeshi Air Force helicopters worked dawn to dusk dropping food, water-purification tablets, medicines and rehydration salts. But supplies were reaching only a fraction of the victims. Meanwhile, international aid trickled in. The European Community ponied up $12 million; Japan pledged and the United States released $2 million each and an additional $100,000 to private agencies, many already stretched to the snapping point by efforts to ease catastrophes elsewhere.
WORLD NEWS
Drop in the Ocean

Nine days and 20 minutes. That's how long it took the first USAID shipment to begin its journey toward the estimated 1 million homeless survivors of last week's killer storm in Burma. Following tense bilateral negotiations, and with support of the Thai government and the United Nations, the Burmese junta finally gave its approval for the United States to land a single C-130 in flood-ravaged Rangoon on Monday, loaded with supplies for up to 30,000 survivors of Cyclone Nargis.
MY TURN
A Farmer’s Labor of Love

Sweaty, dirty, hot and tired. Those are the words that describe how I feel on a typical July day when I'm thinning seemingly endless Asian pears in my orchard. Oh, and then there are gnats and biting flies from time to time, so add "buggy" to that list of not-so-comfortable adjectives. It's times like these that I've wondered, Why on earth am I doing this?