CWS initial emergency appeal: Myanmar (Burma) cyclone Nargis response
Published May 6th, 2008
Appeal Number 699-A
Appeal amount: $50,000
SITUATION: Thousands of people have been killed or are missing in Burma as Tropical Cyclone Nargis pushed ashore over the weekend. BBC News reports three-quarters of structures in the Irrawaddy region were destroyed by fierce winds, rain and storm surge. A United Nations relief worker in Yangon tells the Associated Press villages in the Irrawaddy Delta have been completely flattened. On Haing-gyi Island, along the country’s southwest coast, an estimated 20,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving at least 90,000 homeless.
Profiteering is already starting to grip those coping in the storm’s aftermath, with prices on food, fuel and building supplies shooting up 300 percent. The General Secretary of the Myanmar Council of Churches reports communication abilities throughout Burma have been compromised.
CWS RESPONSE: Immediate relief operations are underway with a comprehensive assessment on-going. The CWS Asia Regional Office is in direct contact with the Myanmar Council of Churches and in coming days this initial appeal will be expanded to reflect needed support for longer-term recovery efforts of the Myanmar Council of Churches and its members.
Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be sent to your denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515. Please designate: Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone Nargis Response.
For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.
CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151
Program Director: dderr@churchworldservice.org
Domestic Response: bvollmering@churchworldservice.org
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