06 May 2008
A satellite image of Cyclone Nargis
Image credit: NASA
Cyclone Nargis, also known as Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis, made landfall on Myanmar (Burma) on 3 May 2008, causing severe casualties, flooding and over 10,000 deaths. This is the first tropical cyclone to strike the country since Cyclone Mala in 2006.
Nargis is the first named storm of the 2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season; it developed on 27 April in the central Bay of Bengal. Thousands of survivors of Cyclone Nargis are homeless and lacking drinking water, power and communications.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his sadness by the size of the disaster. UN officials met Burmese government representatives to discuss how to aid. If the death toll is confirmed, Nargis is now the world's deadliest storm since a 1999 cyclone which killed 10,000 people in India.
Nargis hit Burma on Saturday with wind speeds reaching 190 km/h. It brought with it a sea surge that smashed through towns and villages. Earlier on Monday, the death toll was estimated at 351, but the Burmese foreign minister later declared on TV the figure is at least 10,000; he also warned the fatalities could yet increase.
Thousands of buildings have been destroyed; power lines damaged, trees uprooted, and roads blocked.
References
BBC News
Wikipedia
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist