On Friday May 2, 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit the mouth of the Irrawaddy River Delta region with maximum wind speed of approximately 132 miles per hour (mph) and a storm surge of 12 feet. It is equivalent of a strong Category 3 or minimal Category 4 hurricane. Nargis then moved northeast, affecting Burma’s former capital, Rangoon, on May 3, with wind speed of approximately 90 to 100 mph. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the most affected areas were Irrawaddy Division, Rangoon Division, Bago Division, Kayin State, Kayah State, and Mon State.

While the military regime placed the death toll at 78,000, aid agencies estimated 2.4 million affected, more than 1 million still in need of emergency aid, 56,000 missing and 128,000 or higher dead. It blew away 700,000 homes in the delta. It killed three-fourths of the livestock, sank half the fishing fleet and salted a million acres of rice paddies with its seawater surges. Many died as a direct result of the cyclone but thousands more died because of starvation, untreated injuries and infectious diseases as a result of the slow response to the crisis by the military regime.

Burma’s military regime knew days ahead about the cyclone, but did little or even none at all, to warn and evacuate those living in the center of the storm. Furthermore, in the following weeks after the cyclone, the Burmese government gravely undermined the relief-aid process by denying foreign and local aid workers access to the affected regions, even as the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, warned of “dire consequences” of such decision.

Sources on the ground reported that life-sustaining resources such as food, fresh water, and medical care were systematically being denied to affected communities, particularly ethnic minorities such as the Karen, who make up 60% of the Irrawaddy River Delta region.

With as many as 140,000 dead and millions homeless and without food, the regime instead of jumping to relief aid efforts, moved ahead with its national referendum through which the sham constitution of 2008 was introduced. Then the regime ridiculously claimed that over 99% of the population voted yes, with a 97% turnout. Whether or not these votes were rigged is obvious enough for a three-year-old to see.

Timeline

2 May
Cyclone Nargis make landfall near the mouth of the Irrawaddy River in the Irrawady Division of Burma

3 May
Burma declares 5 disaster areas: Rangoon, Irrawaddy, Bago, Karen and Mon

5 May
UN and international agencies meet in Bangkok, Thailand to co-ordinate their response to the disaster.

6 May
Cyclone death toll jumps to 22,000.

8 May
Four flight carrying supplies from the UN’s World Food Programme arrive in Rangoon as well as an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) flight.

9 May
UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has warned of dire consequences if foreign aid workers continued to be denied access.

11 May
First U.S. aid plane lands in Burma.

13 May
The Burmese government authorizes five more U.S. flights to land in the county with needed aid for the survivors of the cyclone.

14 May
The UN has sharply increased its estimate of those severely affected by cyclone Nargis to 2.5 millions.

16 May
Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein announces that the “first phase of emergency relief” is over and that the focus is now on reconstruction.

17 May
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown tells the BBC that a natural disaster had been turned into a “man-made catastrophe” because of the negligence of the ruling generals.

19 May
Burmese government agrees to let its South Asian neighbors send medical personnel and an assessment team to the country.
Burmese military declares official mourning period of three days for the victims of Nargis.

20 May
Burmese government agrees to allow UN helicopters into some of the least accessible areas of the country’s cyclone-devastated delta.

21 May
Asian nations are beginning to focus on the reconstruction needs of Burma.

22 May
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon tours Burma’s cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta.

23 May
Ban Ki-moon says that ruling junta agreed to ‘allow all aid workers regardless of nationalities’ into the country to help cyclone survivors.

25 May
International donors meeting in Rangoon pledge nearly $50 million in aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis.

30 May
Terje Skavdal, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, complains of “bureaucratic hindrance” of aid workers and urged the junta to allow in 30 International Red Cross staffs who were awaiting visas.

4 June
U.S. Navy ships loaded with supplies for victims is set to sail away after the having made at least 15 attempts to convince the Burmese government to allow the ships to provide additional disaster relief which were turned down by the government.

7 June
A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors exposed to heavy rains as the monsoon season begins.

16 June
Monsoon hinders relief efforts as humanitarian agencies attempt to get aid into the cyclone-ravaged country.