Cyclone Devastates Myanmar

"After about noon, the sky cleared and everybody came out and were just stunned... People on my compound who had been there for about 15 years say they had not seen anything like this here, ever."

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - At least four thousand lives have already been lost and three thousand more remain unaccounted for in the aftermath of the violent storm which ravaged Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

The Foreign Minister of the Military regime that rules that ravaged Nation, also known as the "Golden Land", made a rare public appeal for global assistance.

At an unusually candid Press conference he acknowledged the depth of the devastation caused by the weekend cyclone which ravaged the Nation for ten hours.

International observers report that, in the aftermath of the storms, conditions have caused a humanitarian crisis of the highest order.

The Regime has declared a state of emergency. It will soon receive the first plane load of relief supplies from neighboring Thailand.

General Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations noted in a public statement that he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and the destruction suffered by the people of Myanmar."

He pledged the resources of the UN to the people of Myanmar. He has assembled a "Disaster Assessment and Coordination team" which is poised to enter the Nation, upon formal request from the Regime, to respond to the humanitarian needs.

A US official in Yangon expressed incredulity over the devastation left in the wake of the ten hour cyclone; "After about noon, the sky cleared and everybody came out and were just stunned... People on my compound who had been there for about 15 years say they had not seen anything like this here, ever."

The Red Cross and Red Crescent are already assisting with drinking water, temporary shelters and blankets, all being coordinated with the Government of that battered Nation.

World Vision, a US group which works internationally to assist those who suffer, has also offered its assistance.

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