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| Damaged homes amid debris in Yangon (2008 CARE) |
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| On May 2–3, Tropical Cyclone Nargis pounded Myanmar (Burma) with winds of up to 120 miles per hour. In addition to devastating the capital city of Yangon (Rangoon), the storm also tore through some of Myanmar’s most important rice-growing areas in the Irrawaddy Delta. While Myanmar officials have raised the official death toll from Cyclone Nargis to 78,000, the U.N. estimates that the devastating storm has claimed more than 100,000 lives and left 2.4 million people severely affected.
The disaster caused widespread destruction of homes and critical infrastructure, including roads, water and sanitation systems, fuel supplies and electricity. With many water supplies contaminated and food stocks destroyed, the situation is extremely dire.
CARE's Response | CARE unloads two mobile water purification plants, collapsable jerry cans, water purification tablets from a plane that arrived in Yangon airport. (2008 Melanie Brooks/CARE) |
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To date, CARE has provided emergency assistance to more than 237,000 people in desperate need. We were well-positioned to respond to this emergency, with more than 550 staff who have worked on projects in Myanmar for more than 14 years (map). In the immediate aftermath of the storm, we were able to distribute food and water to people who had fled to safety inside schools and pagodas in the capital city. Myanmar has allowed CARE staff to visit the worst-hit areas in the Irrawaddy delta to make assessments; and the UN has asked us to be the coordinating agency for food distributions there, which we are in the process of carrying out. Click on the following links to find out more: 
Myanmar Country Snapshot*
Population: 50 million
Independence: 1948
Life expectancy: 60.5 years
Adult literacy rate: 89.9%
Access to safe water: 78%
Infant mortality rate:
106 per 1000 births
Maternal mortality rate:
360 per 100,000 live births
HIV prevalence: 2% * Source: Human Development Report 2006 |
Click below to read recent media coverage: | CARE trucks relief to hard-hit areas of Myanmar (2008 CARE) |
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