May 4, 2008

Myanmar




A powerful cyclone killed scores of people, ripped through hundred of homes and knocked out power in the country's largest city. Satellite image shown as it approaches the coast of Bangladesh on Thursday, knocked out power in all of Yangon, flooded street and fallen trees all over the city.


Five regions have been declared disaster zones following Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which struck early Saturday with winds of up to 120 mph. At least 351 people were killed, including 109 who lived on Haing Gyi island off the country's southwest coast. Many of the others died in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta.


In the Irrawaddy's Labutta township, 75 percent of the buildings had collapsed. The storm's winds blew the roofs off hundreds of houses, damaged hotels, schools and hospitals, and cut electricity to the entire city.

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