Bo A.

Olson

Cyclone

The most devastating catastrophe

in modern day Burma

Burma Center International

Text editing: Ann Frances, Burma Center
Photographs and graphics:
Burma Center Archive, MiMi Than Tun, AFP,AP, BBC, IRIN, Reuters
Sources: Burma Center, Myanmar Government, Myanmar NGOs and UNHCR
Cover image: Cyclone Nargis over the Indian Ocean. Photo NASA

First published 2008 by Burma Center as ”60 days after Nargis”.

This edition published in June 2020 by Clay Creek Cabin
Copyright Bo A. Olson 2008 and 2020
ISBN 978-91-519-5333-5
The most devastating catastrophe in modern days Burma

Cyclone Nargis
Bo A.Olson, Burma Center International

In May 2008 a disasterous cyclone in Burma left nearly 140 000

people dead or missing; in addition, hundreds of thousands of people
were made homeless, or otherwise had their livelihood destroyed.
Major international aid organizations hurried to the area but were
stuck for weeks, some even longer, at the country’s borders. This
being partly due to bureaucracy, but perhaps above all, because the
long-standing isolation of Burma had made it difficult for
Westerners to adapt to the Burmese reality.
Contents

1 Foreword
2 Landfall
4 Spontaneous rescue operation
5 Southbound
8 Complete devastation
10 Aid stopped at the borders
12 Community spirit
13 The storm moves on
14 A second threat
17 Vulnerable children
20 And then what?
24 Notes
25 About the author - Contact

 1

Foreword

The people of Burma, or Myanmar in the Burmese language, are some of

the poorest people in the world. The country has been ruled by cruel military
dictators since 1962, who through corruption and mismanagement have run
one of Asia’s potentially richest countries to the brink of bankruptcy. Burma´s
human rights record is widely criticized.

Nevertheless, the Burmese are a proud and competent people, used to mana-
ging their lives without much help from the authorities. This was very appa-
rent after the Cyclone Nargis disaster struck on 2 May 2008 in the Irrawaddy
Delta, when the Burmese military leaders were totally paralyzed and even
refused the international help offered.

The community spirit shown in the all but obliterated towns, villages, and
flooded fields was amazing and Burmese from all over the world rallied to
their aid.

There is no doubt that, with the established international aid agencies´ activi-
ties limited, the catastrophe would have been considerably worse had not the
ordinary Burmese themselves stepped in and done a fantastic job.

The world forgets very easily, but the Burmese don´t. Thus, when internatio-
nal aid was just a trickle, the Burmese continued their struggle as they knew
that aid had to continue for a long time to come if a second catastrophe – that
of starvation – was to be avoided.

In a world where major emergency operations are increasingly carried out by

governments or large relief organizations, mostly without the help of local
people, the Nargis aftermath became excellent proof positive of the ordinary
citizens capability of stepping in where giants fail. This publication is dedica-
ted to those heroes...

Lerbäck, Kungs Husby, Sweden, May 2008.

Bo A. Olson
Burma Center International
2

Landfall

Just before 6 am Friday 2 May 2008 I was awakened by a beep from the
computer in Burma Center’s home base, an insignificant but well-equipped
cabin in the Swedish countryside. It signaled an incoming distress call from
Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta followed by the wording: ”Nargis has reached
land with violent force. Probably hundreds of casualties.”
Burma Center had continuously had small, investigative groups in various
parts of the military-run and by Western nations isolated country. Our pri-
mary purpose had been to document human rights violations, but also as far as
was possible, to supply humanitarian aid to hard-hit people in remote areas.
Our group at the time had just completed reporting from the year’s fact-
finding along the Arakan1 coast, Rakhine State, and in charge was a Burmese
medical student who now had returned to his home town Pathein in the Irra-
waddy Delta, approximately 50 kilometers north of the coast.
Nothing about the cyclone’s advance was in the news, neither domestic
nor international, but India’s Ministry of Meteorology confirmed that a low
pressure lying quite still southeast of the Chennai District had grown and was
upgraded to a cyclone named Nargis2 which means daffodil in Urdu language
. Instead of first being expected to reach land in Bangladesh, the cyclone had
suddenly changed direction and had now moved in along Myanmar´s south
coast with winds of over 200 km/h.
When the emergency message reached us from our group leader in Pathein,
 3
the town itself had escaped the worst storm, but judging by the winds there,
the cyclone must have wreaked havoc further south. The southern Irrawaddy
Delta being very flat and low-lying which, apart from the strong winds, was
an invitation to the catastrophic tidal waves as well.
We already knew a couple of days in advance that Cyclone Nargis very
likely would strike violently, but not exactly where. No information had come
from either the affected area, authorities or other official sources, so after
brief consideration, we decided that my colleagues in the group would travel
south with whatever equipment they could quickly lay their hands on. We had
previously worked together on various relief expeditions in other parts of the
country and were well aware of how extremely important it was that help ar-
rived as soon as possible.
I, myself, had just returned from activities in South America and therefore,
this time, did not lead the group in Myanmar. However, I was responsible
for the coordination from our headquarters in Sweden and my response to
the alarming message was therefore to urge my colleagues to get appropriate
equipment together and return to the coast as quickly as ever possible. With
experience of dealing with similar natural disasters, I had quite a good idea
of the scenario that was to come and could therefore immediately send a list
of equipment that was possible to get hold of and, above all, realistic to trans-
port.
While our people in Pathein were chasing equipment and supplies locally,
my primary duty was to provide the group with as relevant information about
the situation as possible. The media in Myanmar made no mention of the
course of events and the authorities at all levels were not only incapable of
acting, but resisted attempts by anyone else to reach the disaster area. While
I was trying to organize the operation from Sweden, some good friends were
raising sponsors all over the world in order to buy supplies for the affected
people.
BURMA
4

Storm damage near Laputta

Spontaneous Rescue Operation

In the beginning we did not know how much damage the cyclone had cau-
sed but had reason to fear the worst. Myanmar’s coastline in the Irrawaddy
River Delta along the Bay of Bengal is the country’s primary rice-growing
district where millions of people live in lowlands that are normally just a
few feet above sea level. The waves created by cyclone winds raised the wa-
ter level in the coastal area by 3.5 meters. The unhindered wave then pulled
up through the watercourses and dragged everything with it miles upstream;
boats, buildings, trees, livestock and people. Very soon, satellite images con-
firmed the scale of the disaster and on the night of May 3, when the cyclone
reached the country’s largest city of Yangon, some information began to leak
out via regime-critical media. By then, our group had already started work in
the worst damaged area.
Government paranoia had hindered information to the public for decades
as the military´s policy was to conceal events of this kind. It was not only
because of the authorities’ own incompetence in dealing with disasters, but
mainly because of their own persecution complex that the rulers would be
judged guilty when even due to natural causes.
I naturally assumed that, if the disaster was as serious as we suspected,
international aid organizations would be in place quickly. It did not feel as
 5
though we, from our headquarters in the central Swedish rather tranquil Lake
Mälaren Valley, would have to arrange major rescue operations in stricken
Myanmar ourselves. It seemed more realistic for us to lead our own small
relief group in more limited efforts via satellite communication. It may sound
strange, but in today’s electronic world we, on the other side of the hemisphe-
re, knew much more and much faster what was happening in Myanmar than
people already there!
Thus, I took on the role as coordinator, constantly in touch with other spon-
taneously organized volunteers who, although inexperienced, wanted to help
and were there when it was most desperately needed. We did not know at the
time that larger scale international aid efforts had been hindered from entering
Myanmar with some even waiting for weeks.

Southbound

My Burmese colleague and his two companions set off from Pathein barely
an hour after our first contact. They were familiar with the area but didn’t
know exactly where they were going nor what they were going to find; only
just knowing that they had to go south. They took with them what useful
equipment they could quickly lay their hands on and loaded it all into an old
pickup truck, setting off south in the direction of Laputta.
They had not got very far before they ran into fallen trees and other debris
blocking the road. It was not possible drive round because of the mud and
flooded fields. Another problem was all the people trying to reach safety.
After trying to hand-saw their way through the thick tree trunks, our group
had to give up, leave the vehicle and continue on foot with whatever they
could carry; a few hand tools, a camp stove with fuel and a billycan, drinking
water in hip flasks, a few cans of food, light plastic tarpulins, torches and a
satellite phone.
6
One serious obstacle on our various expeditions had always been that com-
munication means were so poor in Myanmar. Almost everybody had their
own cellphone, at least in urban areas, but network coverage was severely
restricted, even non-existent in many rural areas. Thus, on this occasion, we
were trying out some new equipment for satellite communication which me-
ant transmitting from the Delta to a colleague in England who then forwarded
the message to Burma Center in Sweden and vice versa. The weak spot was
the power supply as conventional batteries had a tendency to run out quickly
and re-charging was impossible without electricity. Granted, our phones this
time were solar powered but what good was that when there was no sun just
constant pouring rain.
Even walking on the
paths, now more or less
mudbaths, was difficult
because of meeting all the
people trying to reach safe-
ty with the belongings they
had managed to rescue.
Eventually our people
found a small boat which
had slipped its moo-
rings and had been was-
hed upstream by the tidal
wave, but even that didn’t
make things much easier
because of all the debris
they had to navigate.

Larger boats had been sunk as well,

some of them completely blocking the
waterways.
 7

Finally, dressed in rain ponchos, life vests and rubber boots our group
reached the Laputta area in the evening 3 May, the day after the cyclone hit.
Already on the way down, they had understood from people they met that
the disaster was far more extensive than anyone had first feared. Now, they
could barely believe their eyes when virtually the entire land was under water
with few buildings left at all. There were dead bodies everywhere and people
desperately searching for missing family members.
We decided to concentrate our work on the remote villages far from town,
which were almost completely wiped out, and where no outside help at all
was available. Our people worked virtually around the clock clearing debris,
collecting rain water for drinking and taking care of the dead in as dignified a
manner as possible.
This was a tre-
mendous task in
these waterlogged
areas but it had to
be done quickly to
prevent disease in
the tropical climate.
Most important of
all was comforting
surviving relatives
and helping them to
get started to help
themselves.
8
Complete devastation

There was really very little

constructive help our group
was able to provide initially.
Some people our group came
across were more or less badly
injured with many aimlessly
wandering around in states of
shock. Thus, what we could
do was using our training; by
putting the uninjured to work
with basic first aid; erecting
temporary shelters for the
worse injured; arranging to
collect rain water for drinking and taking care of dead bodies. Most of all our
people could show that there were fellow human beings in the outside world
who actually cared about them.
After the first few hours
of hard work the worst sta-
te of shock in many of the
storm victims seemed to
have worn off somewhat
and, apart from the actual
horror dawning on them,
needs like hunger and
specially thirst became
noticeable.
Food perhaps one could
do without a few days
but drinking water cer-
tainly was an imminent
problem. Not that there
wasn´t enough clean water from above in the monsoon rains, but all the ponds
where the rain water was collected were flooded with salt water washed up
from the sea by tidal waves. Virtually all the traditional earthenware jars
and pots to keep drinking water in had been crushed by the storm. To drink
water from streams and various puddles on the ground was not an alternative
because of the risk that decomposing bodies, both human and animal, would
spread decease.
 9

With most containers for drinking water smashed and the fresh water ponds filled with
sea water, the plastic sheets brought by our group came in handy, partly as temporary cover
against the elements but most of all; to collect rainwater in.

There was no way whatsoever to take care of the dead in a dignified man-
ner, actually, in no way at all. Burning bodies, the most common way among
Buddhists, was impossible when everything was soaked and very little dry
fuel available. Trying to dig the bodies down was out of the question as the
ground was water-logged and the pits were immediately filled with water. It
was just a question of weighing the bodies down marking their positions.
10

Aid stopped at the borders

This all happened while all the large international aid organizations waited
at the border for official permission to enter Myanmar. Our hope for an in-
stant, large-scale international rescue operation was just not to be. The good
intention and resources were there; but western knowledge of Myanmar of-
ficials´ idiosyncrasies was painfully lacking.
Burma Center´s fact finding expeditions always aim at collecting as objec-
tive information as possible. Thus, we avoid official contacts with authori-
ties and we travel ”incognito” as tourists, not like official aid organizations
which apply for permits and use government appointed assistance which of
course may sometimes be convenient but perhaps more often a hinderance.
Certainly, the latter in this case as the Myanmar government could not, or
would not, risk having Western ”adversaries roaming about”3 . Organizations
like UNHCR and several other humanitarian and religious agencies did not, at
the beginning realize just how enormous the catastrophe was and did not want
to risk losing the authorities´ cooperation as to future, perhaps more critical,
endeavors. Thus, they waited for permission to enter and for visas for their
personnel, either at air strips or depots far away or just outside Myanmar’s
borders. For example, truckloads of aid supplies were lined up for more than
a week at border crossings, waiting for permission to enter Myanmar.
 11
It was regrettable that this humanitarian catastrophe had been politically
exploited. The Burmese opposition, most of it in exile, had for many years
encouraged a visiting and financial boycott of Myanmar so, was it then sur-
prising that very few foreigners had had a chance to become acquainted with
how things were run in this very special country, apart from what they could
learn from oppositional propaganda?
Also, did the US seriously believe that the paranoid military rulers in the
new capital Naypyitaw4 would give their permission when US Navy war-
ships appeared on their coast demanding to be allowed to enter the country
with helicopters as well as landing craft? Even if they were only to deliver aid,
you can imagine that the Generals were a bit shaken up, especially as the US
Bush regime publicly had defined Myanmar as “an outpost of tyranny”5 and
considered it “an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security”6
Naturally this added to the military junta´s reluctance to let any foreign aid
experts in and thus most of the international aid stayed put in Bangkok ware-
houses or at best on the tarmac at Yangon International Airport.
Even for the supplies which had got permission to enter there were logistic
as well as bureaucratic problems, such as organizing local transport and ob-
taining permits, not to speak of the lack of infrastructure itself, especially in
the areas where help was most needed.
Three planeloads of tents and medicines were stuck in India; medicine,
food, clothing and tarpaulins in Bangladesh; food shipments of noodles and
rice in Thailand and dried noodles and meat in Laos; emergency shelters in
Malaysia; food, water, building equipment in China, as well as 330 tents and
50 generators in Japan.
In Italy and in the UAE7 United Nations aid supplies were waiting in de-
pots for entry permits; in Qatar a
disaster team had been sent back
after having been refused entry; a
USAID team were waiting for vi-
sas in Thailand and four US ships
with Navy helicopters and rescue
supplies were waiting offshore in
the Gulf of Thailand. Added to
which two plane loads from WFP8
had been seized by authorities on
air strips inside Myanmar.

U.S. warships lead by USS Essex

at the Burma coast
12
Community spirit

Various smaller local church

groups and other community ser-
vices did what they could to help
in those early days. Most of all,
the way ordinary Burmese people
helped their fellow citizens in
need, without even asking for any
compensation, was amazing and
must have saved thousands of li-
ves. Noticeable was how monks
from partly wrecked Buddhist
monasteries put in hard labor,
disposing of the dead as well as
sheltering the injured.
Especially encouraging was to experience how Burmese people struggled
side by side, regardless of ethnic, religious or social backgrounds, with the
sole objective of helping, which gave good hope for future national concilia-
tion.
Our group in the Irrawaddy Delta had no difficulties in finding volunteers
for some of the most gruesome tasks and eventually it was encouraging to
realize that our supervision in the field was soon no longer needed as sensible
local people stepped forward taking over the leadership and letting us enter
the next phase which was survival in a more long-term perspective.
 13

The storm moves on

On 3 May just about the entire Irrawaddy Delta was flooded9 and the cy-
clone had moved East, reaching the largest city Yangon on Saturday mor-
ning. Luckily it had then abated a little although rain swamped the streets and
strong winds caused considerable damage to buildings. Coconut trees along
the streets were swaying dangerously and many were uprooted; some com-
pletely stopping traffic and cutting out both telephone and electricity. People
were lining up to buy clean water.
Yangon was by then almost completely surrounded by floods but the total
damage in the city was not at all as bad as in the Irrawaddy Delta. Also, police
and troops were able to help in Yangon but could not reach the disaster areas
further down the coast where five
regions were now declared disaster
zones.10
Some news of the disaster had at
the time started to leak to the outsi-
de world from Yangon despite the
junta barring foreign journalists
from entering the country. One
BBC reporter was even expelled
for reporting from the disaster area
and the junta gave a slow response
to demands that it waives visa re-
quirements for relief agencies try-
ing to help victims11
14
A Second Threat

Of the almost seven and a half

million people living in the Irra-
waddy Delta before the cyclone,
two and a half million were se-
verely affected by it12 According
to the United Nations up to 102
000 people could have been kil-
led by the storm itself and be-
cause of the slow aid efforts. An
additional 220 000 were reported
missing13
According to official statistics 138 000 people were killed in the cyclone, of
which more than 120 000 the first day of the disaster14 . Another 2.5 million
became homeless or otherwise affected.
Although the general situation was still chaotic a couple of weeks after the
disaster, some kind of routine had been established. Various aid agencies
had begun to arrive and were doing a fair job. Most serious casualties were
either dead or had been taken care of. A major
problem remained; that of avoiding disease and
also future starvation.
We organized people to erect simple latrines
to give some privacy and at safe distances from
water courses. Even if we by now had managed
to secure a fairly reasonable supply of drinking
water, we had to think a bit further ahead as the
rains would not continue indefinitely. Some aid
agencies supplied portable water purification
plants but not enough and not to the more re-
mote areas.
A couple of years ago, we had learnt of a met-
hod of filtering water by mixing some dried
crushed clay with coffee grounds (or tea leaves
or rice hulls if not available); adding a little wa-
ter and then shaping it all to something like a
pot, with one end open. After drying in the sun
you surround the ”pot” with straw, place it all
in a pile of cow manure. Then set fire to the
straw and topping up the manure continously as
 15
it is a good fast burning fuel. The burnt cof-
fee grounds left microscopic holes through
which water was filtered
As the situation was desperate it was
worth a try. As far as we know it seemed to
work without casualties. Later we organized
a workshop in a partly demolished pottery to
mass produce this type of clay filters.
The Irrawaddy Delta is the major rice pro-
ducing region in Myanmar but most of the
cattle, especially buffalos used for tilling
the fields, were killed by the cyclone or the Destroyed paddy
following tidal waves. Farming machinery Drowned buffaloes
replaced by small power tillers
had been destroyed at the very beginning of
the short planting season. In addition to the
disaster sweeping away the new rice plants
in the fields it also ruined the stocks being
kept in storage. Thus it was obvious that a
second catastrophe was imminent; that of
starvation.
First, we tried to transfer buffaloes from
other regions, but they were not used to lo-
cal conditions and thus worthless. Then we
bought up all the elementary small tractors,
or tilling machines we could get hold of and
transported them to the Delta.
Up to the last week of June, more than £10
000 in donations had already been sent th-
rough MiMi to much needed aid in the Ir-
rawaddy Delta. 120 small power tillers, as
well as fuel and rice seedlings, had been
delivered and local farmers estimated that
each tractor could plough 50 acres for the
monsoon planting season, which were about
to end in July.
Keeping this in mind we were hoping that
the farmers could produce altogether around
6000 acres of rice paddy during the season.
On the average 1 acre produces 50 sacks of
rice, which enabled 120 farmers and their
16
families, 1 tractor for each family, to produce 300,000 sacks of rice. This was
a great help in getting these people back on their feet and stimulating the local
economy.
Together, our private aid associates had collected approximately one quarter
of a million US$ worth of aid by the end of June. With these funds all the ba-
sic and most vital necessities had been provided in many villages. In addition,
food and clothing continued to be sent down from the rest of the country as
soon as it was possible. People in the Yangon area continued to donate what
they could and were keen to ship goods down to the affected areas through us
and our by now, well established channels.
This did in no way mean that the need for help was over, probably quite the
opposite. It was now that we really had to help the local Burmese and their
organizations who were struggling along with very little means but with huge
hearts.
Our plans were to purchase more tractors, diesel oil and rice seedlings and
money permitting, more materials for shelter etc.
Unfortunately, world media is only interested in catastrophes such as Nargis
as long as it makes spectacular news. This disaster got very little international
publicity, mainly because it was too hard work for news agencies to cover it
geographically. Already by June they had found other horrors to write about
and Myanmar had disappeared from the headlines. Even some international
aid agencies had lost interest; possibly because of the obstacles that local aut-
horities put in their way. Others, for example UN WFP15 and the Red Cross,
put up with the frustration, as they felt they had to follow the rules of the
Myanmar authorities, something our organization completely ignored finding
other ways of sidetracking the authorities.
As one spokesman for a well-known international aid provider put it when
approached by Burma
Center: “We have to
follow the rules or we
would be prevented
from helping the next
time something hap-
pens”. Just as though
two and a half million
victims were not rea-
son enough to take that
risk for, one can only
wonder...
 17
Vulnerable children
A major problem when things began
to settle down was all the small children
who had become orphaned or separated
when their families were separated. Most
schools, nurseries and other social facili-
ties in the area had been totally destroyed
or left badly damaged with with risk of
collapses. Their parents had been washed
away upstream by the tidal wave for se-
veral miles.
Taking care of the small children and
registering them was essential in order
to eventually re-unite them with their pa-
rents or close relatives if at all possible.
At the same time, security measures
had to be taken, knowing from expe-
rience that in Southeast Asia it is a not uncommon criminal practice by less
honest ”entrepreneurs” to use orphans for child labor or sexual services. A
few teachers had survived and they, assisted by some mothers, organized
a reasonable child care and even some basic tuition. This while some local
handymen started repairs on partly damaged buildings as well as erecting a
few basic shelters. Still, a major problem was the lack of tools as most hand
tools had been washed away or had been buried in mud. Electrical tools were
useless as there was no power.
One of the most serious aspects was that several of these children were gra-
vely in shock and emotionally disturbed by their recent experiences of losing
their families. To engage these children in various projects was a priority; pri-
marily to keep their minds from their recent terrifying experience; but also to
help them to survive the nearest weeks. Naturally, our people in the disaster
area had no professional training or experience in this field but it is amazing
how much you can do when suddenly facing completely new problems, sho-
wing empathy, and leaving the rest to common sense.
After a while Save the Children’s Fund and others could get in, and see to it
that orphans were taken care of more professionally. They also arranged do-
nations of tuition material and toys to be distributed by capable local people.
Large soft toys were especially welcome by children who had lost all their
loved ones.
18

Aid through ”the back door”

As soon as it was clear to us that help from outside would not come in the
foreseeable future, I contacted a Burmese colleague in the UK who had helped
us earlier during our Burmese expeditions. MiMi Tin Tun was the daughter of
a former Burmese Ambassador and was now running a small travel agency/art
gallery in London with good connections in Yangon. Through her we could
establish quite an effective ”life line”, using trusted people in Myanmar, well
acquainted with local geography and customs; thus avoiding both delays and
red tape. Our first challenge was to urgently get emergency supplies to the
most desperate communities and MiMi had already spontaneously started to
collect and distribute aid to Nargis survivors when I got involved.
The money we collected abroad was sent through well proven channels in
Yangon or in nearby Thailand from where the cash could be brought into My-
anmar. Urgently needed supp-
lies for the Delta were purcha-
sed as close to the disaster area
as possible. Some things, espe-
cially medicinecs and medical
supplies, were hard to get in
Myanmar and had to be smugg-
led, mostly in small boats from
Thailand and Malaysia together
with sacks of rice, and other
things such as containers for
 19
drinking water. One reason for not having far larger overland transports was,
apart from the shattered infrastructure, to avoid ”middle hands” and scrutiny
by local officials16 . When the goods arrived at the disaster area by truck or
boat it was unloaded, sorted and distributed to remote villages by backpack-
ing volunteers.
Established aid agencies like the United Nations, The Red Cross and others
had to follow the rules set up by the Myanmar authorities. Operations like
our own have had many years’ experience of avoiding such obstacles. When
others have boycotted the country, we had instead built an effective ”under-
ground” network, invaluable at times like this. We could easily have distribu-
ted a lot of the aid still stuck abroad if it had been given to us, but apart from
a negligible amount of UN supplies handed over to some of our Buddhist
monks, we had to purchase and bring everything in ourselves.
In the beginning it was mostly a question of delivering acute items such as
medicine, drinking water, food, cooking supplies and shelter. For a while, as
the need was so enormous; we had to concentrate on four villages near Boga-
lay; Khit San, Yua Thit, Kyig Chaung and Kwin Sa Khan, where before the
cyclone 600 people lived, of whom 510 had died. Our effort was the first to
reach these villages along with several truckloads of aid to other rural villages
and to temporary shelters in schools and monasteries in the towns of Labutta
and Bogalay. Our initial shipments included 250 kilo rice, beans, onions and
garlic, salt, cooking oil, pots and pans, spoons and bowls, rainproof sheet-
ing, rubber boots, ”flip-flops” (plastic sandals), flashlights, mosquito netting,
blankets, medicines, soap and water purification agents.
20

And then what?

Looking back at the disaster in the Irrawaddy Delta, the situation was per-
haps best illustrated by 76-year-old U Toe who mused ”When the water is
below us, we can make a living. But when it is above us, we die”17
Apart from the damage done to the crops in the fields and to livestock; sto-
red rice plants and agricultural equipment in sheds were ruined, as well as fish
and shrimp farms. Even the natural salt farms became unusable.
Decades ago, the Irrawaddy Delta lands were protected by mangrove forests
but, especially over the last thirty years, human habitation and agriculture
have gradually changed the landscape, thus weakening the environment´s abi-
lity to resist strong waves and winds created by cyclones. Mangrove forests
were cleared for other land use and nipa palms (dhani) were felled for tradi-
tional roofing in the new villages.
The situation in the disaster area is still far from normal, but considerable
help did eventually arrive which gave hope for the future. The major interna-
tional organizations finally got in and did a good job. There have been indi-
cations that westerners and Myanmar officials had at least started to talk and
even cooperate, which is a good sign for the future. However, some western
staff members who obviously were recruited from activist groups, used their
 21
presence there for spreading anti-government propaganda, which was hardly
a help towards building trust.
Many of the staff representing these international rescue organizations
were well-paid professionals who knew their business, but those who really
prevented the disaster from becoming even more horrendous were, after all,
the day to day Burmese who, in solidarity with their stricken fellow citizens,
spontaneously stood up wholeheartedly without any thought for their own
safety nor any kind of compensation.
Perhaps one day my Burmese colleague, his friends and those other eve-
ryday heroes, will be recognized, even if they today, do not even dare to give
their true names. Those of us who know them, can only say that they have our
full respect for their readiness to do the very best they could under the hor-
rifying circumstances they faced.

After a few weeks in the disaster area, virtually working around the clock,
Burma Center decided to withdraw its own small aid group from the Irra-
waddy Delta and give the people a well-deserved rest following a thorough
debriefing. Their traumatic experiences had begun to take their toll and other
benevolent Burmese who had flocked to help were now capable of taking
over.
22
Today, the Irrawaddy Delta
is still mending, both phy-
sically and mentally. Interna-
tional child care organizations
took over their welfare and
tools were shipped from other
parts of Myanmar as well as
mobile generators, together
with workers from foreign aid
agencies.
As long as a year after Nar-
gis, villagers in the devastated
Irrawaddy Delta every day
watched the skies, afraid of
another deadly storm approaching. The Myanmar governments department
of meteorology had stepped up their advanced tracking of storms and when it
reported Cyclone Bijli approaching across the Bay of Bengal in April 2009,
panic broke out in many villages.
According to locals in Kaw Hmu Township on the coast south of Yangon
”everybody was afraid and people were packing up to leave for Yangon”.
However, ”the village abbot Yae Tain tried to restore calm by telling local
people by megaphone that they had nothing to fear”18.
 23

Despite all the misery and loss of life, there is a little sunshine story: On the
night when the worst storm hit the Irrawaddy Delta, a child was born in one of
the hardest hit villages. The mother was badly hurt by the high winds, falling
debris and the floodwaters. The father was washed away by the tidal wave and
feared dead until he finally managed to get some help. Long afterwards, he
was able to reach his own home village. The newborn baby girl miraculously
seemed uninjured when our volunteers found her.
And what name would she not be given unless ”Nargis”, after the
cyclone...19
24

Notes

1 Rakhine State
2 Nargis - urdu for daffodil
3 Interview with official
4 Naypyitaw was designated the capital after Yangon
5 US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, 2005
6 US Homeland Security Executive Order 13047, May 1997
7 United Arab Emirates
8 United Nations World Food Programme
9 NASA
10 United Nations
11 UN and aid agencies reports 12 May 2008
12 Post Nargis Periodic Review
13 United Nations 12 May
14 Thant Myint-U
15 World Food Program
16 As Myanmar was one of the most corrupt countries in the
world, on all levels, the risk of money going to”presents”
was imminent
17 Inter Press Service interview 27 April 2009
18 Minn Minn, Inter Press Service 27 April 2009
19 MiMi Than Tun
 25

About the author

Bo A.Olson is an antropologist, writer and photographer who has reported from
Burma/Myanmar since his first visit in the late 1970´s. After that he has travelled
widely in the country several times and spent a total of almost three years among
Ethnic Peoples in their regions.
1993 he became the Director of Burma Center, an independent voluntary foundation for
objective research and information.
Mr Olson is now living in Stockholm, Sweden, where he was the editor of the
Fria Burma (Free Burma) Swedish language newsletter for 17 years. He is the author of
Burma-the Elusive Peacock as well as several other books and reports.

Contact
burmacenter@gmail.com