OCHA Situation Report No. 31
Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis
13 June 2008


Source:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SITUATION OVERVIEW

1. Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on 2 and 3 May 2008, making landfall in 
the Ayeyarwady Division and hitting the former capital, Yangon. 37 
townships were significantly affected by the cyclone. Current estimates 
suggest that 2.4 million people were affected. 1.3 million of whom are 
estimated to have been reached so far by International NGOs, the Red Cross 
and the UN. The most recent official figures of 16 May state that 77,738 
people have been killed and 55,917 are missing.

2. A Tripartite Core Group (TCG), consisting of high-level representatives 
of the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN, was established at the 
donor conference on 25 May to oversee the coordination of relief 
assistance. The group's fifth meeting will take place in Yangon on 14 
June, hosted by ASEAN.

3. A joint relief and early recovery assessment (Post-Nargis Joint 
Assessment: 'PONJA') is currently underway. The assessment involves 
humanitarian needs and damage components: a Village Tract Assessment (VTA) 
and a Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA). Field surveys in 30 of the 
worstaffected townships are taking place between 10 and 19 June. As of 13 
June 32 VTA teams have covered 31 of 128 'quadrants' in Pathein, Wakema, 
Labutta, Bogale, Pyapon and Yangon. Meanwhile, the 6 DaLA teams have 
covered 17 of 21 targeted townships. Some 250 assessment personnel are 
involved in the PONJA, including representatives of the Government of 
Myanmar, ASEAN member states, the UN, the World Bank, the Asian 
Development Bank, I/NGOs, the Myanmar Red Cross Society, the private 
sector and individual volunteers. Preliminary findings from the assessment 
are expected to be shared at the ASEAN roundtable meeting on 24 June and 
the finalized assessment report will be shared in mid-July.

4. The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) conducted a field visit on 13 June to 
monitor the PONJA. The mission travelled by helicopter to Labutta, Bogale 
and Pyapon townships, visited temporary settlements and met with 
assessment teams, local authorities and central government officials 
deployed to the field.

NATIONAL RESPONSE

5. IFRC reports that the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), working with 
the IFRC and the ICRC, has reached more than 250,000 beneficiaries with 
water, food and other relief items as of 9 June. More than 189,950 of 
these beneficiaries are located in the Ayeyarwady delta. Approximately 
10,000 people per day are being reached.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

6. The following information is provided by the clusters, which meet 
regularly to coordinate the humanitarian response of national and 
international NGOs, the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and UN agencies.

For more detailed up-to-date information relating to cluster activities 
please visit the Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) website: 
http://myanmar.humanitarianinfo.org.

For the latest maps please visit:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/doc404?OpenForm&emid=TC-2008-000057-MMR&rc=3

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=A8FB38A81DED928F85257467006F89E4&file=Full_Report.pdf


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Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis           www.cidi.org/incident/myanmar-08e