Cyclone Nargis Update

Cyclone Nargis Update

June 4, 2008

Note: New content has been inserted in red, italicized, bold font.

Current Status

Tropical Cyclone Nargis struck southwestern Myanmar (Burma) on May 2. The official death toll is 77,738, with 55,917 reported missing. The UN estimates 2.4 million people were affected, most in the Irrawaddy Delta region. About 1.3 million people have been reached by aid workers.

The UN Flash Appeal stands at US$201 million and is 40.8 percent covered. According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA’s) Financial Tracking System, US$153.6 million has been committed, with a further US$108 million pledged.

The US said Wednesday (June 4) the four Naval vessels that have been waiting offshore since May 13 will depart Thursday (June 5). The ships carry 1,000 Marines, at least 14 helicopters, two landing-craft vessels, two amphibious hovercraft and relief supplies, but the junta has refused to allow the US to deliver the items, saying, according to state media, that they feared a US invasion aimed at seizing Myanmar’s oil deposits. Myanmar earlier offered to accept the aid if its own civilian boats were allowed to transfer the cargo from the ships, but no such arrangement developed. The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said the heavy-lift helicopters would have made a significant difference in operations. The ships will leave several heavy-lift aircraft in Thailand to assist relief efforts and is prepared to respond should the junta change its mind. France and Great Britain already withdrew navy ships they had off-shore. (BBC, AP, CNN, AFP, June 4)

The junta’s reluctance to use foreign military helicopters, as is typical in disaster response, has forced aid agencies to procure civilian aircraft from around the world, complicating logistics and delaying and dramatically raising the cost of operations. The junta has only seven working helicopters. (AP, IRIN, June 4)

While there is sufficient cargo to maintain relief flights out of Bangkok through the end of this week, the Logistics Cluster has little information about other planned cargo and may decrease the air fleet working out of Bangkok. Distribution capacity will soon exceed the pipeline for incoming goods. Agencies say there may be a shortage of shelter and relief items in coming weeks. (OCHA, June 4)

WFP says it may remain in the delta for up to a year and that although it prefers to buy locally, it might need to import rice for its aid programs. (Reuters, June 4)

The UN reports no trouble now in obtaining visas and 143 have been issued to international UN staff. International NGOs, however, say they still face obstacles and some applications have been pending for up to three weeks. (OCHA, June 4)

The UN says it cannot account for the number of people who have been reached by national NGOs, local communities and the Myanmar government or the scale of their relief efforts due to a lack of information and access. The UN hopes to get a clearer picture from the joint needs assessment being conducted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, UN agencies, the junta, the World Bank and others, but the preliminary report is not due for three weeks. (OCHA, June 4)

Impact

The death toll remains at 77,738 with 55,917 reported missing. State media reports 19,359 people are injured. The majority of deaths were reportedly caused by the 12-foot (3.5-meter) tidal wave. About 21.5 million people out of Myanmar’s 53-million population live in the five regions that were declared disaster zones – Yangon, Irrawaddy Division, Pegu (Bago) Division, Karen (Kayin) state and Mon state.

Nargis affected 2.4 million people, including about 680,000 in Yangon and 75 percent of people (1.4 million) in the Irrawaddy Delta region that includes the townships of Bogalay (Bogale), Labutta, Ngaputaw, Dedaye, Pyapon, Kyaiklat and Mawlamyinegyun.

Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry reports US$10.7 billion in losses. About 95 percent of structures in the delta were destroyed. The IFRC reports that at least 1.5 million people remain homeless there. The Asian Development Bank says at least 543,000 acres of rice paddy was covered in salt water, and 38,000 acres of fish and shrimp ponds and 152,000 acres of forest were destroyed. About 2.3 percent of Myanmar’s annual rice crop was lost. FAO says 700,000 hectares of paddy fields in the delta – about 20 percent – may need rehabilitation. About 280,000 cattle for plowing died.

Myanmar’s Ministry of Education says 4,000 schools were destroyed or damaged, affecting 500,000 children. UNICEF says children account for 40 percent of the hardest-hit population and are the most likely to die in disease outbreaks.

Response Coordination

Myanmar’s government is coordinating disaster response with the UN Resident Coordinator and the cluster system. Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is in charge of national relief efforts, with the Information Management Unit (MIMU) taking the lead in information management.

Myanmar’s Deputy Foreign Minister is designated officer for relief assistance and the Ministry of Revenue and Finance is the contact point for cargo arrival. A Ministry of Health team is working out of Yangon General Hospital to coordinate health response.

The Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which has three representatives each from the junta, ASEAN and the UN, deals with access and delivery issues.

Coordination hubs are in Labutta, Bogalay, Pyapon, Mawlamyinegyun and Pathein.

OCHA launched a Humanitarian Information Center (HIC) Web site for Myanmar at http://myanmar.humanitarianinfo.org, which has detailed situation reports for each cluster, and an On-Site Operations Coordination Center.

Sector Status
Logistics	The World Food Program (WFP) is the cluster lead, supported by the UNJLC. Yangon Airport remains the primary hub. The template for all procedures is at http://www.logcluster.org/mm08a. Bangkok’s former international Don Muang Airport is the main staging area for foreign relief with daily flights to Yangon. *The cluster is 15 percent funded (according to FTS). (OCHA, June 4)* The logistics cluster is now operating a 4,000 square meter (sqm) warehouse in Yangon, with a fleet of 30 trucks, four barges with four barge pushers (total capacity = 2,150 tons), and two boats (300 and 600 MT). Transit time to the delta by barge is between three and six days. WFP says it has a fleet of some 30 boats to help with deliveries in the delta. (IRIN, June 3) The cluster says that although there is sufficient cargo in stock to maintain flights out of Bangkok until the end of the week, there is little information on other planned cargo. If this is maintained the cluster will decrease the air fleet working out of Bangkok. (OCHA, June 4) Cargo dispatched by the cluster today by barge: total of 158 MT to Labutta, Pyapon and Bogalay. (OCHA, June 4) A barge is being loaded with some 106 MT of relief for Labutta. Cluster expects arrival of a boat (Claudia) on June 5 at Bo Aung Kyay port in Yangon with 400 MT of rice for WFP and NFIs. (Reuters, June 4) *The cluster has dispatched a total of 1,831.38 MT of goods. (LC, June 4)* The first WFP helicopter, which arrived in Yangon on May 22, began deliveries to the delta on June 2. *The helicopter completed its third day of operations.* *Nine other helicopters approved by the junta are in Bangkok and expected to arrive on June 6. (LC, OCHA, June 4)* Three are suited for cargo only, while seven can be used for cargo and passengers. (UN, June 2) Only seven government helicopters are operating in the delta. (AP, June 3) Logistics hubs storage updates: Mawlanyaingyun: 2,000 tons available in MAPT w/h. Labutta: 7 Mobile Storage Units (MSUs) 1,120 sqm. (240sqm for UNICEF, 240 for WFP, 240 to IOM) Pathein: 1200 sqm under negotiation. Pyapon: 2 MSUs up. Easily accessible by truck. (480 sqm). 240 sqm dedicated to CARE and 1,600 sqm under construction. Bogalay: 2 MSUs up. 1,200 sqm operational. (240 sqm dedicated to UNICEF, 240 to WFP and 240 to IOM.) 720 sqm under construction. The cluster has 16 operational warehouses and 14 additional warehouses are expected to become operational in the coming weeks. (UN, June 3) World Vision reported the following traveling times: Yangon – Kyaiklat: 3 hours by road Yangon – Bogalay: 4.5 hours by road Yangon – Pyapon: 3.5 hours by road Pyapon –Mawlamyinegyun: 1.5 hours from Pyapon by river by boat
Food	WFP appealed for US$69.5 million to provide a complete food basket to 750,000 people, for a total of 380 MT a day, but now estimates that 1.5 million require food assistance. (IRIN, June 3). So far WFP has US$21.3 million, including US$5 million from the CERF, and has fed 575,000 people with a two-week ration of rice. But if more money is not pledged, the agency says it will run out by mid-July. 9,938 tons of WFP food assistance have been delivered to affected areas and 4,465 tons of food have been distributed. WFP estimates it has reached approximately 501,000 beneficiaries with varying rations. 67 percent of target has been reached. (OCHA, June 4) Frequent movement of the beneficiary population (both spontaneous and government-organized) poses difficulties in terms of targeting. WFP food basket for its operation currently has no commodity to cater for children under five. Cluster will look into the possibility of local production of blended food for young children. (OCHA, June 4) WFP expects a pipeline break by the end of July due to two factors: 1) Resource availability. WFP received confirmation for about 35 percent or US$25 million in contribution against the total requirement of US$70 million. Although it forecasts that 60 percent will be covered eventually, the immediate availability of cash may be a problem. 2) In-country availability of rice. The total requirement for the 6-month operation is 46,500 tons, WFP would likely need to import up to half of this to source without undue impact on the domestic market. Delay or denial of import permit by the government will result in a pipeline break. (OCHA, June 4) *More imports might be needed if farmers in the affected zones cannot plant the monsoon crops by the end of July, when 80 percent of the country’s rice is normally grown. (Reuters, June 4)* *WFP received clearance from the junta to import 400 tons of rice from a French naval ship docked in Thailand that was not allowed to deliver aid directly. (Reuters, June 4)* *The food cluster is currently 21 percent funded. (OCHA, June 4)* WFP says that along with its partners, it can distribute some 400 MT of food a day. (IRIN, June 3) The Cluster estimates the monthly food requirement at 8,933 tons. WFP plans to cover 11 townships in Irrawaddy and eight in Yangon. WFP has two sub-offices in Labutta and Bogalay. WFP is providing enough cash for four weeks of food to 200,000 affected people in Yangon. WFP emergency food assistance rations are composed of 400g of rice, 100g of pulses, 30g of vegetable oil and 5g of iodized salt per day per person. The monthly food basket for a family of five has 60 kg of rice, 15 kg of pulses, 4.5 kg of oil and .75 kg of iodizes salt.
Shelter	UNHCR leads the shelter cluster and is supporting the IFRC, which was designated the in-country cluster lead. UNHCR is asking for US$6 million from the Flash Appeal to help 250,000 people with shelter materials within the next six weeks. So far UNHCR has delivered about 433 MT of supplies for about 125,000 people. UNHCR is setting up field units in Labutta and Bogalay. IFRC said at least 1.5 million people remain homeless in the delta. The UN estimates that until recently around 260,000 people had been in temporary camps in 14 townships. (IRIN, June 3) There have been reports of the government evicting people from some camps. *Main challenges in getting materials to beneficiaries are related to material availability, transport and access. (OCHA, June 4)* Key agencies have reported a possible shortage of shelter goods in the coming weeks as the overall distribution capacity exceeds the pipeline for incoming goods. This is likely due, in part, to the increased global demand for items resulting from the recent China Earthquake. The time span between arrival in country and distribution is as short as three days, and no stocks in Yangon are existent to cover a possible lull in the supply line. With the increase of the in-country logistical capacity, this will become the biggest bottleneck in the near future. (OCHA, June 4) *Approximately 204,000 plastic sheets have been distributed to an assumed 102,000 households representing coverage of about 21 percent of affected households. (OCHA, June 4)* *The cluster has so far received funds of US$14,750,000 from the UN Flash Appeal and IFRC Appeal. (OCHA, June 4)* Shelter kits have been renamed: Family kit is now called Relief kit. Shelter kit is now Tarp Kit and Hamlet kit is now Community tool kit. The cluster has standardized three types of kits. The first is a tool for a group of 10 or more households. The second is a basic building material kit, one per household. The third is a Non-Food Items (NFI) kit. *102,000 Household Tarp Kits, 13,000 Community Tool Kits and 6,300 Household Relief Kits have been distributed so far. (OCHA, June 4)*
Health	The World Health Organization (WHO) leads the health cluster, which comprises 22 international NGOs and UN agencies. Merlin is cluster co-lead. Cluster projects submitted to the CERF amount to US$4 million. WHO is calling for US$28 million to fund a six-month action plan to rebuild the health care system. At least 50 percent of health structures were damaged or destroyed. Cluster sub-groups have been formed on HIV/AIDS, Early Recovery and psychosocial support. The cluster has established three operations centers in Pathein, Labutta and Bogalay. WHO launched the Early Warning Disease Surveillance System known as the Early Warning Reporting System (EWARS). *Myanmar doctors are providing medical treatment under the Myanmar Medical Association to several villages in Kawhmu, Dedaye, North Okkalapa and relief camps in Labutta. (OCHA, June 4)* International medical teams have been deployed as follows: China-Kungyangon; Thailand – Mawlamyinegyun; Bangladesh – Wakema; India – Bogalay and Pyapon; Singapore- Twantay; Philippines- Pathein; Japan- Labutta. (OCHA, May 30) Medical teams from more than 70 countries are expected to arrive in the next 3-6 months. A team from Laos left Myanmar on May 31. A 30-strong medical team arrived from Indonesia on June 2. They will provide medical care in Kawhmu township (WHO, June 3) The Health Cluster Joint Plan of Action objectives are: Assess and monitor health needs and strengthen disease surveillance; Respond to outbreaks and other health threats, strengthen disease control and fill critical health care gaps; Strengthen and repair systems and build capacity; Engage partners to coordinate a joint health sector response. (OCHA, June 2) A meeting of WHO’s Regional Surveillance Officers (RSOs) on May 29 revealed that: Many people in temporary shelters have started moving back to their places or to monasteries; There are adequate stocks of medicines but access to clean water is a major issue; People are in need of water purification tablets and soap for hand washing. (WHO, June 3) WHO and the health cluster have sent more than 650 MT of supplies and equipment since the beginning of the emergency. (WHO, June 3)
Nutrition	About one-third of Myanmar’s children are malnourished, including 30,000 under five who were acutely malnourished before Nargis. Save the Children says several thousand may die in the next two weeks due to a lack of food.