Over 22,000 People Killed In Myanmar Cyclone

[Sadrin]

Not sure if many of you guys have heard about the Cyclone that Hit Myanmar over the weekend, so I figured I would make a topic about it. It's said that the death toll of 22,00 is confirmed and thousands are still missing. Here is a link to alot of info about the storm.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Myanmar; ... xHlnj9xg8F

I think it's kinda odd that the main news stations are talking about this story in passing of others. I just think this should be a little more covered... even if they don't have their own videos and photos of whats going on. I saw more about what the 1st lady is doing about it than anything.

I don't know anyone from Myanmar nor do I even remember ever knowing of the place. I just really feel sorry for what those people are going through.

[Sonic#]

Yeah, I've read about it in online news sources and heard a bit about it from NPR. Apparently the Myanmar gov't's assistance is minimal, but from what I just read, it seems like they'll at least let foreign aid in, which is something.

I didn't realize how high the count had gotten though. :/ Especially when our media freaks out if even a hundred Americans die.

[Kizyr]

Myanmar = Burma.

Same thing is going to happen as what happens with major disasters and famine in North Korea. There's going to be an appeal for help, there might be some aid, and the government will block the rest. KF

[phyco126]

Isn't Myanmar the country that was in the news last year for violently killing protestors and jailing journalists? Can't remember.

20,000 people is quite a bit, no matter how you look at it.

[Kizyr]

Isn't Myanmar the country that was in the news last year for violently killing protestors and jailing journalists? Can't remember.

There were a series of protests, largely led by monks, throughout Burma late last year. There weren't many jailed journalists, however, because there are no journalists allowed in in the first place.

20,000 people is quite a bit, no matter how you look at it.

I'm surprised anyone here noticed. Thousands of people in the region die due to natural disasters like this, and it rarely makes the headlines over here. KF

[kyle1992]

Myanmar is close to Bangledesh(which is a low elevation landscape) and the fact that it's summer monsoon season so it really doesn't surprise me that much, but the death toll got me. Over 20,000 is pretty big for a small country. For the U.S. thats about 1/4 or less than the regular population, for China that's nothing thats about 1/8 or more.

[phyco126]

20,000 = 1/4th or less of the US population? O_o For less sure, unless we got a sudden loss of population suddenly. Or did I simply read that wrong?

[Benevolent_Ghaleon]

Why don't national disasters in America ever have death tolls this high?

[Kizyr]

Why don't national disasters in America ever have death tolls this high?

We're not in as dangerous an area for hurricanes. Also, the US has a much better infrastructure for dealing with disasters, both preventative and otherwise. KF

[kyle1992]

20,000 = 1/4th or less of the US population? O_o For less sure, unless we got a sudden loss of population suddenly. Or did I simply read that wrong?

that was my bad i meant to put more

[Werefrog]

unless we got a sudden loss of population suddenly.

Didn't you hear about the zombie plague that occurred after some scientist tried to cure cancer? There was a documentary about it and everything.

[phyco126]

Yeah, but didn't someone find the cure for that? Some kind of legend guy I suppose.

=P

[GhaleonOne]

Yeah, but didn't someone find the cure for that? Some kind of legend guy I suppose.

=P

Yeah, and he liked Bob Marley, so that's even better.

On topic though, it's a sad situation. My friend from Thailand is here in town right now, and he has friends in Burma who may be trying to come stay with him for a while when he goes home next week. He got an Email from them the other day saying that the government didn't even bother to warn the civilians about the on-coming cyclone. Not a good situation at all.

[kyle1992]

Yeah, but didn't someone find the cure for that? Some kind of legend guy I suppose.

=P

Yeah, and he liked Bob Marley, so that's even better.

On topic though, it's a sad situation. My friend from Thailand is here in town right now, and he has friends in Burma who may be trying to come stay with him for a while when he goes home next week. He got an Email from them the other day saying that the government didn't even bother to warn the civilians about the on-coming cyclone. Not a good situation at all.

I Am Legend. That is a good movie.
On the cyclone topic, why would the Myanmar gov't not even give a warning to the civilians? I just don't understand.

[Kizyr]

Official death toll is over 70,000. The real death toll is most likely much higher than that.

The government is finally letting in supplies as of last week. It's really ridiculous. Although, looking at it from the perspective of a military dictatorship that desperately wants to hold onto power, I can understand why they did it.

On the cyclone topic, why would the Myanmar gov't not even give a warning to the civilians? I just don't understand.

It's an issue of whether or not they would even be able to. There's not really much of an emergency infrastructure there. There's also the fact that the ruling government cares mostly about its own power. KF

[Kizyr]

Update!

Three weeks later, adn General Than Shwe finally is allowing all foreign aid workers in!

Just in time to collect the corpses of the people who could have been saved if they'd gotten off their asses sooner. KF