The latest: More than six weeks have passed since Cyclone Nargis swept through the Irrawaddy River delta in southern Myanmar, and doctors and aid workers returning from remote areas of the region say that they have seen no signs of starvation or widespread outbreaks of disease that some were predicting.
Delays not catastrophic: While it is estimated that the cyclone may have killed 130,000 people, the number of lives lost specifically because of the military junta's slow response to the disaster and the restrictions it placed on foreign aid appears to have been smaller than expected.
Relief workers say the specific character of the cyclone, the hardiness of villagers and aid efforts by private citizens helped prevent further death and sickness.
Dead or OK: Most of the people killed by the cyclone, which struck May 2-3, drowned. Those who survived were not likely to need urgent medical attention, doctors said. "We saw very, very few serious injuries," said Frank Smithuis, manager of the mission of Doctors Without Borders in Myanmar. "You were dead or you were in OK shape." That appears to be the primary reason that villagers were able to stay alive for weeks without aid. As they waited, the survivors, most of whom were fishermen and farmers, lived off of coconuts, rotten rice and fish.
Used to nothing: "The Burmese people are used to getting nothing," said Shari Villarosa, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, formerly Burma. "I'm not getting the sense that there have been a lot of deaths as a result of the delay."
The junta's failings: The United States has accused the military government of "criminal neglect" in its handling of the disaster. Privately, many aid workers have, too. The junta, widely disliked among Myanmar's citizens, did not have the means to lead a sustained relief campaign, they say.
Local aid saved the day: But a substantial relief operation was carried out, mainly by Burmese citizens and monks, aid workers said. They organized convoys of trucks filled with drinking water, clothing, food and construction materials.
"It's been overwhelmingly impressive what local organizations, medical groups and some businessmen have done," said Ruth Bradley Jones, second secretary in the British Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city. "They are the true heroes of the relief effort."
Future concerns: Aid workers emphasize that of the estimated 2.4 million Burmese strongly affected by the storm, thousands remain vulnerable to sickness and many are still without adequate food, shelter and supplies. But their ailments are -- for now -- minor.
NEW YORK TIMES
