Cyclone Nargis Update

 

June 9, 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 41 percent covered. According to OCHAÕs Financial Tracking System, US$164 million has been committed, with a further US$108 million pledged.

 

Aid agencies say dozens of villages in the delta have still not been reached, but logistics operations received a boost Saturday (June 7) when five helicopters arrived in Yangon (Rangoon) for World Food Program (WFP) use. The junta authorized the WFP to bring in 10 helicopters for relief operations more than two weeks ago. While one has been in use since May 22, the remaining nine had been awaiting clearance from the junta. The final four helicopters are expected to arrive later this week. The added helicopters will drastically improve delivery times, with WFP saying 26 villages will have been reached by the helicopters by the end of Tuesday (June 10). (Reuters, AFP, June 8)

 

There are around 50 days until the monsoon planting season ends. WFP is warning that farming households that are able to plant will need food assistance for at least six months, until the harvest in November. Those who do not have the seeds, tools or usable land for the monsoon harvest will likely need food aid for at least a year. The agency will likely need to rely on some imports for its feeding program, which it anticipates may be a challenge because the government prides itself on self-sufficiency and tightly regulates imports. (PWS&D, IRIN, June 6)

 

The government is denying that forced evictions are taking place, saying that it is conducting a voluntary resettlement program for victims in camps who want to return to their villages. The government is erecting temporary shelters for volunteers to return to and providing them farming equipment and one week of food rations. The juntaÕs comments appeared to be in response to criticism from rights groups like Amnesty International. (Reuters, AFP, June 8)

 

The UN ChildrenÕs Fund (UNICEF) estimates there are at least 2,000 orphans or children who are missing parents, but some Myanmar workers say there are 5,000 orphans in Labutta alone. Efforts to reunite children with their families are complicated because surnames are rarely used in Myanmar and many children do not know the names of their families or villages. (CSM, June 9)

 

As of Monday (June 9), 179 visas had been issued to UN international staff and 86 have visited affected areas. (OCHA, June 9) As of June 6, at least 328 aid flights had landed in Yangon, at a rate of about 10 to 15 a day. (UNDPI, June 6)

 

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 MyanmarÕs 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.

 

MyanmarÕs 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 MyanmarÕs 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.

 

MyanmarÕs 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

 

MyanmarÕs government is coordinating disaster response with the UN Resident Coordinator and the cluster system. MyanmarÕs 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.

 

MyanmarÕs 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. The TCG-commissioned Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) teams include representatives from the government, ASEAN, the UN, the private sector and MRCS. (USAID, June 5)

 

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. UN says there is a pressing need for funding for the logistics operation. Only US$20 million of the US$50 million required have been received. These funds are needed to extend the outreach of the operation from the hubs to those villages that have yet to receive assistance. (OCHA, June 6) The cluster is 12 percent funded in the Flash Appeal according to FTS. (OCHA, June 9)

 

Yangon Airport remains the primary hub. The template for all procedures is at http://www.logcluster.org/mm08a. BangkokÕs former international Don Muang Airport (DMK) is the main staging area for foreign relief with daily flights to Yangon. Air capacity is 190 MT a day. (LC, June 6) So far there have been 328 flights to Yangon, with 10 to 15 flights arriving daily. (UNDPI, June 6)

 

The logistics cluster is now operating a 4,000 square meter (sqm) inter-agency warehouse in Yangon, a fleet of 35 trucks with four barges with four barge pushers (total capacity = 2,650 tons), and three boats (total capacity = 1,250 MT). 1 jetty identified in Yangon. 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) Smaller boats with a capacity of 1-5 MTs are being sought for use in the delta. (LC, June 5)

 

The first WFP helicopter, which arrived in Yangon on May 22, began deliveries to the delta on June 2. Only seven government helicopters are operating in the delta. (AP, June 3) An additional five helicopters landed in Yangon on Saturday (June 7). An MI8 MTV completed 4 rotations from Labutta delivering UNICEF shelter materials and WFP pulses to Ah Mat Gyi ,Kwa Kwa lay,Kwin Thone Fint, Twe Pin Kaing. Three other helicopters (2 MI8 MTVs and 1 Puma) operated from Bogalay delivering rice and HEBs from WFP and mosquito nets from UNICEF to Yoe Kone and Seik Ma (West). (OCHA, June 9) Remaining four in Bangkok to come in as soon as approval is received. (LC, June 7)

 

A total of 1,925.23 MT of cargo, including 1,334MT of food, have been dispatched by the cluster from May 20 to June 9. (LC, June 9)

 

Boats are loading in Yangon for Bogalay, Pathein, and for Mawlanyaingyun. (LC, June 9)

 

The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) coordinated by the TCG was launched Monday (June 9). The assessment involves humanitarian needs and damage components: a Village Tract Assessment (VTA) and a Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA), for which field surveys in the 30 affected townships are planned between June 10-19. (OCHA, June 9)

 

UN agencies report no major issues with obtaining visas for their staff, with 179 visas issued as of June 9. National and international UN staff have been travelling to the Irrawaddy Delta in increasing numbers with government approval; 86 international UN staff have visited the affected-areas as of June 9. International NGOs are experiencing greater difficulties in entering the country. Some NGOs report problems in accessing affected areas. (OCHA, June 9)

 

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, 560 for WFP, 380 available)

Pathein: 1200 sqm under negotiation.

Pyapon: 2 MSUs up. Easily accessible by truck. 1,680 sqm operational. 240 sqm dedicated to CARE and 480 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. WFP requires US$41.4 million for its immediate emergency food assistance program. The funding requirement is urgent as the imminent importation of food commodities is likely to double the cost of providing food assistance. The cluster is 21 percent funded in the Flash Appeal, according to the FTS. (OCHA, June 9)

 

The UN says that survivors in the delta are likely to need food assistance for as long as a year. (IRIN, June 9)

 

Total food distributed by all partners in May was 5,206 MT. WFP and its implementing partners have distributed 5,816 MT of food to the affected areas to date. WFP is distributing cash in lieu of food in certain areas. 16,448 beneficiaries have received a cash allocation. (OCHA, June 9)

 

WFP initially planned to procure food commodities locally to the extent possible and then import commodities to avoid disruption to local markets. The Government has now agreed to permit importation of rice, despite being initially opposed. (OCHA, June 9)

 

The food cluster is providing support to the PONJA with data collection and analysis capacity as well as logistical support. Food prices are observed to have risen, due to scarcity of commodities, in townships that have been visited. (OCHA, June 9)

 

Food commodities catering to children under five years of age is a continuing gap in the food response. The food cluster is working with the nutrition cluster to consider local production. (OCHA, June 9)

 

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 by the GoM will result in a pipeline break. (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 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. The cluster has so far received funds of US$14,750,000 from the UN Flash Appeal and IFRC Appeal. (OCHA, June 4)

 

There is an urgent need for substantial amounts of tarpaulins, given that stocks in the country have been depleted. (OCHA, June 6)

 

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. According to state media, Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein denied reports of forced relocation and said the government will support people living in relief camps and provide assistance for voluntary returns or resettlement. (OCHA, June 9)

 

Population movements in IDP locations are still very fluid. Smaller camps are reportedly merging to be seen as a smaller number of larger camps in Labutta. (OCHA, June 9)

 

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 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. The Health cluster is 77 percent funded in the Flash Appeal. (OCHA, June 9)

 

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).

 

The cluster and the MoH will conduct assessments of psychosocial distress in the six most affected townships. (WHO, June 6)

 

Between May and July, IOM plans to provide emergency medical services through mobile medical teams, medicines, medical equipment and supplies in Bogalay, Malamnyine Kyune and Pyapon. (OCHA, June 9)

 

HelpAge International (HAI) is working with local NGO YMCA to provide health services in Kyiaklat township. Services will be extended to Mawlamyinegyun, Dedaye township from June 10. (OCHA, June 9)

 

IFRC is recruiting 40 health/hygiene officers to work with the Myanmar Red Cross (MRCS) from mid-June onwards. (OCHA, June 9)

 

Community-based first aid refresher training for 216 MRCS volunteers from the Irrawaddy and Yangon divisions continues. The main focus of the training is safe water and sanitation, prevention of communicable diseases and psychosocial support. (OCHA, June 9)

 

Three joint Ministry of Health/WHO mobile health teams will undertake a one-week mission this week Laputta, Ngaputaw and Bogolay to trace TB patients with interrupted treatment and provide general non-TB curative and public health services. Nine sub-teams will visit camps and villages. Patient-tracing teams will be sent out to trace patients the following week. WHO will assist with data compilation and analysis and convene a TB working group week beginning 16 June. (OCHA, June 9)

 

An action plan for dengue prevention and control in cyclone-affected areas has been developed by WHO and the DoH. (OCHA, June 9)

 

International medical teams have been deployed as follows: China-Kungyangon; Thailand (two teams) – Mawlamyinegyun; Bangladesh – Wakema; India – Bogalay and Pyapon; Singapore- Twantay; Philippines- Pathein; Japan- Labutta; Indonesia - Kawhmu. Medical teams from more than 70 countries are expected to arrive in the next 3-6 months.