Cyclone Nargis Storm Surge in Myanmar

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Cyclone Nargis Storm Surge in Myanmar correspondence Cyclone Nargis storm surge in Myanmar To the Editor — Tropical cyclone of 100,000 striking India and Bangladesh tropical cyclone track included in the Nargis (category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson (Supplementary Fig. 1). Damage estimates International Best Track Record for Climate Hurricane Scale, SSHS) made landfall on at over $10 billion made Nargis the most Stewardship database2 has made a direct 2 May 2008, causing the worst natural destructive cyclone ever recorded in the landfall in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady river disaster in Myanmar’s recorded history. Indian Ocean. Here we analyse the cause of delta at an untypically low latitude near Official death toll estimates exceed 138,000 the humanitarian disaster based on physical 16° N. In 2006, a similar tropical cyclone fatalities1 making it the eighth deadliest and societal observations. (Mala, category 4, SSHS) made landfall in cyclone ever recorded worldwide. Since On 28 April 2008, Nargis was located Myanmar at 17.6° N causing only 22 deaths the 1970 Bhola cyclone, which caused up near the centre of the Bay of Bengal and after a well executed evacuation effort, and to 500,000 fatalities, Nargis represents the upgraded to a category 1 cyclone (SSHS). the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide and The tropical cyclone developed sustained affected Myanmar’s Andaman coast, resulted one of the worst natural disasters, with winds over 210 km h–1, with gusts up to in only 71 fatalities. the exceptions of the 2004 Indian Ocean 260 km h–1, before landfall in Myanmar Three months after cyclone Nargis, access tsunami and the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. on 2 May as a category 4 storm (SSHS). It was granted to the hardest-hit Ayeyarwady The Bay of Bengal has generated seven reached Yangon approximately 12 h later delta for the 9–23 August 2008 storm-surge tropical cyclones with death tolls in excess as a category 1 storm (SSHS). No previous reconnaissance, which surveyed coastal and inland villages encompassing the a Bogale and Ayeyarwady rivers. The boat 17° N and helicopter survey spanned 150 km 3 May 1 parallel to the cyclone track between Pyapon 0 50 km 0:00 UTC and Pyinkhayan, encompassing the 20 Yangon hardest-hit settlements such as Pyinsalu. High-water marks, overland flow depths 30' 2 May 18:00 UTC and inundation distances were recorded Bogale Pyapon based on established protocol3 (Fig. 1). 2 Survey point Labutta The Nargis high-water marks surpassed 2 May Cat. 1 119-153 km h–1 the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami run-up at - 12:00 UTC y –1 4 ar 16° N 3 d Cat. 2 154-177 km h corresponding locations and the storm a ey 4 yan w –1 surge peaked at over 5 m in the landfall Pyinkha Ay Cat. 3 178-209 km h auk Ka Latt area. In most areas, roughly 2-m-high 2 May Ky Pyinsalu Aya Cat. 4 210-249 km h–1 6:00 UTC Aung Hlaing storm waves were superimposed on surge 30' 94° E 30' 95° E 30' 96° E30' 97° E levels. Inundation distances reached 50 km inland from the nearest coastline, based on flooding direction. The Nargis high- b 7 water measurements are comparable to 6 Surge elevation observations in Louisiana’s Mississippi delta 5 Ground elevation after Hurricane Katrina5. Both Nargis and 4 Wave elevation Katrina affected major river deltas as both Vertical erosion ation (m) 3 tracks crossed river mouths. v 2 Tsunami height Ele Ephemeral coastal erosion, and 1 Tsunami height vegetation and infrastructure damage were 0 (ref. 4) documented. More than 1 m of vertical –1 erosion and 100 m of land loss were –2 c measured at various coastal locations from 100 the landfall area to the Ayeyarwady river e (%) 80 Fatality rate mouth (Supplementary Fig. 2). Drinking 60 water wells were flooded with saltwater, entag Residential 40 destruction rate scoured and left stranded in the surf zone. Perc 20 A golden Buddhist stupa, originally built 0 on dry land, pierced the water surface 150 m offshore from Aya. Deforestation Figure 1 | Field observations of the cyclone Nargis storm surge in Myanmar, which made landfall on for charcoal and rice paddies as primary 2 May 2008. a, NASA MODIS Rapid Response imagery with a UNOSAT flood overlay (in red) modified land-use had left few primary growth based on ground reconnaissance; storm track and categories are shown in yellow. b, Measured storm- mangroves, which may have provided some surge and storm-wave heights for the region between 94 and 96° E, compared with the 2004 Indian wave attenuation6 within 30 km of the coast Ocean tsunami heights (see Supplementary Table 1). c, Recorded mortality and residential destruction (Supplementary Fig. 3). rates in the region between 94 and 96° E (see Supplementary Table 2). Measurement accuracies: ±0.1 m Catastrophic peak fatality rates exceeded for vertical measurements and ±0.3 m for wave-height estimates. 80% in the hardest-hit villages. The fatality 448 NATURE GEOSCIENCE | VOL 2 | JULY 2009 | www.nature.com/naturegeoscience © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved ngeo_558_JUL09.indd 448 18/6/09 12:29:45 correspondence rates in the initial landfall area were numerical model validation, which is widely 6. Barbier, E. B. et al. Science 319, 321–323 (2008). surprisingly low because of spontaneous absent for historical events in the Bay of 7. Sieh, K. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 364, 1947–1963 (2006). 8. Synolakis C. E. & Bernard, E. N. Phil. Trans. R.. Soc. A self-evacuation facilitated by nearby high Bengal. The inundation penetrated 50 km 364, 2231–2265 (2006). ground. All interviewed eyewitnesses inland inhibiting last-minute evacuations ignored warnings owing to lack of cyclone owing to the lack of high ground at most Acknowledgements awareness and evacuation plans, absence of locations. Unfortunately, the widely This research was in part supported by the Department high ground or shelters, and no indigenous deforested, low-lying and densely populated of International Development’s Pyoe Pin Programme, knowledge of comparable previous storm- Ayeyarwady delta with its poor housing UK. The disaster zone access was made possible by surge flooding in the Ayeyarwady river construction remains extremely vulnerable P. Win (Mingalar Myanmar), Y. M. Htoon (Myanmar Development Foundation), J. Broadhead (United Nations delta. Residents surprised by the deadly to future storm-surge flooding, potential Food and Agricultural Organization), A. M. Kyu (National flooding struggled with capsizing small sea-level rise or tsunami. Coastal protection Committee for Environmental Affairs) and U. Soe Kyi boats and canoes, while some ‘floaters’ in the Bay of Bengal must be approached (Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement). We survived by tying themselves to a tree. In with community-based education and also acknowledge the World Food Program for providing a sharp contrast, the residents of the Gwa awareness programs suited for a multi- helicopter exit flight. coastline, frequently struck by cyclones hazard perspective7,8. ❐ such as Mala, are aware of cyclone Hermann M. Fritz1*, Christopher D. Blount1, hazards and have evacuation plans. Gwa References Swe Thwin2,3, Moe Kyaw Thu3 and Nyein Chan3 is located 150 km north of the Nargis 1. http://www.emdat.be 1Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia landfall area and has high ground nearby 2. Knapp, K. R., Kruk, M. C., Levinson, D. H. & Gibney, E. J. Eos Institute of Technology, Savannah, Georgia 31407, facilitating evacuation. 90, 46 (2009). USA, 2Myanmar Coastal Conservation Society, 3. Fritz, H. M. et al. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 74, 12–20 (2007). Yangon, Union of Myanmar, 3Mingalar Myanmar The field survey in the aftermath of 4. Satake, K. et al. Earth Planets Space 58, 243–252 (2006). cyclone Nargis provides ephemeral storm- 5. Fritz, H. M. et al. J. Geotech. Geoenv. Eng. NGO, Yangon, Union of Myanmar. surge data that is critically important for 34, 644–656 (2008). *e-mail: [email protected] NATURE GEOSCIENCE | VOL 2 | JULY 2009 | www.nature.com/naturegeoscience 449 © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved ngeo_558_JUL09.indd 449 18/6/09 12:29:45 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION DOI: 10.1038/NGEO558 Supplementary Information to accompany Cyclone Nargis storm surge in Myanmar Hermann M. Fritz, Christopher D. Blount, Swe Thwin, Moe Kyaw Thu, and Nyein Chan This section contains Supplementary Figures 1-3 and Supplementary Tables 1 and 2. NATURE GEOSCIENCE | www.nature.com/naturegeoscience 1 supplementary information DOI: 10.1038/NGEO558 Supplementary Fig 1. Fatalities from major cyclone events (> 10,000 deaths) from 1584 up to Nargis compiled from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) and other sources (see refs. S1-S3) with storm track and wind speed (from the Joint Typoon Warning Center and IBTrACS) compared against 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deaths (ref. S1). Additional cyclone track: 2006 Cyclone Mala with 22 deaths in Myanmar. 2 NATURE GEOSCIENCE | www.nature.com/naturegeoscience DOI: 10.1038/NGEO558 supplementary information (a) (b) (c) Supplementary Fig. 2. Field survey: (a) bark damage and (b) rafted debris in trees as high water marks at Pyinsalu; (c) vertical erosion on palm tree roots at Aung Hlaing. (a) (b) (c) (d) Supplementary Fig. 3. Coastal erosion: (a) Drinking water wells scoured in surf zone at Aya; Supplementary Fig 1. Fatalities from major cyclone events (> 10,000 deaths) from 1584 up to Nargis (b) Golden Buddhist Stupa built on land piercing the water surface offshore highlighting 150m compiled from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) and other sources (see refs. S1-S3) with storm land loss. Land use: (c) Deforestation of mangroves for use as charcoal and rice paddies; track and wind speed (from the Joint Typoon Warning Center and IBTrACS) compared against 2004 Indian (d) Secondary growth mangroves with cyclone damage in a forestry reserve.
Recommended publications
  • An Informed System Development Approach to Tropical Cyclone Track and Intensity Forecasting
    Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations. No. 1734 An Informed System Development Approach to Tropical Cyclone Track and Intensity Forecasting by Chandan Roy Department of Computer and Information Science Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden Linköping 2016 Cover image: Hurricane Isabel (2003), NASA, image in public domain. Copyright © 2016 Chandan Roy ISBN: 978-91-7685-854-7 ISSN 0345-7524 Printed by LiU Tryck, Linköping 2015 URL: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-123198 ii Abstract Introduction: Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict considerable damage to life and property every year. A major problem is that residents often hesitate to follow evacuation orders when the early warning messages are perceived as inaccurate or uninformative. The root problem is that providing accurate early forecasts can be difficult, especially in countries with less economic and technical means. Aim: The aim of the thesis is to investigate how cyclone early warning systems can be technically improved. This means, first, identifying problems associated with the current cyclone early warning systems, and second, investigating if biologically based Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are feasible to solve some of the identified problems. Method: First, for evaluating the efficiency of cyclone early warning systems, Bangladesh was selected as study area, where a questionnaire survey and an in-depth interview were administered. Second, a review of currently operational TC track forecasting techniques was conducted to gain a better understanding of various techniques’ prediction performance, data requirements, and computational resource requirements. Third, a technique using biologically based ANNs was developed to produce TC track and intensity forecasts.
    [Show full text]
  • Bhola Cyclone 1970
    Md. Miraj ID: DREJD001/19 Reg: 05077 Course Title: Case Studies of International Projects on Disaster Resilience Course Code: DRE 5207 Bhola Cyclone 1970 1. Introduction The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan and India's West Bengal on November 3, 1970. It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded and one of the deadliest natural disasters. At least 500,000 people lost their lives in the storm, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. Formed November 3, 1970 Dissipated November 13, 1970 Highest winds 3-minute sustained: 185 km/h (115 mph) 1-minute sustained: 240 km/h (150 mph) Lowest pressure 960 hPa (mbar); 28.35 inHg Fatalities ≥ 500,000 total (Deadliest tropical cyclone on record) Damage $86.4 million (1970 USD) Areas affected India, East Pakistan 2. Impact ✓ The exact death toll will never be known, but it is estimated to be 300,000 to 500,000 people in total. ✓ Over 3.6 million people were directly affected by the cyclone, and the total damage from the storm was estimated at $86.4 million. ✓ The survivors claimed that approximately 85% of homes in the area were destroyed. ✓ Ninety percent of marine fishermen in the region suffered heavy losses, including the destruction of 9,000 offshore fishing boats. ✓ Of the 77,000 onshore fishermen, 46,000 were killed by the cyclone, and 40% of the survivors were affected severely. ✓ Agricultural damage was similarly severe with the loss of $63 million worth of crops and 280,000 cattle.
    [Show full text]
  • Effect of Major Storms on Morphology and Sediments of a Coastal Lake on the Northwest Florida Barrier Coast Aaron C
    Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 Effect of Major Storms on Morphology and Sediments of a Coastal Lake on the Northwest Florida Barrier Coast Aaron C. Lower Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES EFFECT OF MAJOR STORMS ON MORPHOLOGY AND SEDIMENTS OF A COASTAL LAKE ON THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA BARRIER COAST By AARON C. LOWER A Thesis submitted to the Department of Geological Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2008 The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Aaron C. Lower defended on March 19, 2008. ___________________________ Joseph F. Donoghue Professor Directing Thesis ___________________________ Anthony J. Arnold Committee Member ___________________________ Sherwood W. Wise Committee Member ___________________________ Stephen J. Kish Committee Member Approved: ___________________________ A. Leroy Odom, Chair, Department of Geological Sciences ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people I would like to thank and recognize for their support throughout my studies. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Joseph Donoghue, for his continuous support and guidance during the MS program. Many thanks to the late Jim Balsillie, whose field expertise and suggestions proved invaluable to the completion of this thesis. Thanks to Jim Sparr, of the Florida Geological Survey, for his assistance with the GPR surveys. I am grateful to Matt Curren, formerly of the FSU Antarctic Research Facility, for the use of the X-ray machine, darkroom facilities and the storage of my cores.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding the Characteristics of Rapid Intensity Changes of Tropical Cyclones Over North Indian Ocean
    Research Article Understanding the characteristics of rapid intensity changes of Tropical Cyclones over North Indian Ocean Raghu Nadimpalli1 · Shyama Mohanty1 · Nishant Pathak1 · Krishna K. Osuri2 · U. C. Mohanty1 · Somoshree Chatterjee1 Received: 31 August 2020 / Accepted: 21 December 2020 © The Author(s) 2021 OPEN Abstract North Indian Ocean (NIO), which comprises of Bay of Bengal (BoB) and Arabian Sea (AS) basins, is one of the highly poten- tial regions for Tropical Cyclones (TCs) in the world. Signifcant improvements have been achieved in the prediction of the movement of TCs, since the last decade. However, the prediction of sudden intensity changes becomes a challeng- ing task for the research and operational meteorologists. Hence, the present study focuses on fnding the climatological characteristics of such intensity changes over NIO regions. Rapid Intensifcation (RI) is defned as the 24-h maximum sustained surface wind speed rate equal to 30 knots (15.4 ms−1). The results suggest that the TCs formed over the NIO basin are both seasonal and basin sensitive. Since 2000, a signifcant trend is observed in RI TCs over the basin. At least one among three cyclones getting intensifed is of RI category. More number of RI cases have been identifed in the BoB basin than the AS. The post-monsoon season holds more RI and rapid decay cases, with 63% and 90% contribution. Most of the TCs are attaining RI onset in their initial stage. Further, India is receiving more landfalling RI TCs, followed by Bangladesh and Oman. The east coast of India, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh are the most vulnerable states to these RI TCs.
    [Show full text]
  • Manual on Cyclone
    Scope of the Manual This manual is developed with wider consultations and inputs from various relevant departments/ministries, UN Agencies, INGOs, Local NGOs, Professional organizations including some independent experts in specific hazards. This is intended to give basic information on WHY, HOW, WHAT of a disaster. It also has information on necessary measures to be taken in case of a particular disaster in pre, during and post disaster scenario, along with suggested mitigation measures. It is expected that this will be used for the school teachers, students, parents, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, and practitioners in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction. Excerpts from the speech of Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations Don’t Wait for Disaster No country can afford to ignore the lessons of the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti. We cannot stop such disasters from happening. But we can dramatically reduce their impact, if the right disaster risk reduction measures are taken in advance. A week ago I visited Chile’s earthquake zone and saw how countless lives were saved because Chile’s leaders had learned the lessons of the past and heeded the warnings of crises to come. Because stringent earthquake building codes were enforced, much worse casualties were prevented. Training and equipping first responders ahead of time meant help was there within minutes of the tremor. Embracing the spirit that governments have a responsibility for future challenges as well as current ones did more to prevent human casualties than any relief effort could. Deaths were in the hundreds in Chile, despite the magnitude of the earthquake, at 8.8 on the Richter Scale, the fifth largest since records began.
    [Show full text]
  • UNDP Myanmar Responds to Cyclone Nargis
    UNDP Myanmar responds MATTERS OF FACT to Cyclone Nargis • 40 UNDP and its implementing partner NGO PACT offices in the Ayeyarwady Delta UNDP moved into action within 24 hours after Cyclone • 23 field teams active in the worst affected areas Nargis hit Myanmar on 2-3 May. The storm carved a • 500 national staff and project personnel working in the path of destruction that left 133,653 dead or missing delta and being mobilized for Cyclone Nargis response and 2.4 million severely affected by the crisis. operations • 5 UNDP offices functioning as ‘base camp’ for UN The cyclone’s 120-mile per hour winds and resulting organizations and international NGOs delivering to, and storm surge were particularly devastating in the working in Bogale, Mawlamyinegyun, Labutta, Ayeyarwady Delta, where entire villages were flattened. Ngapudaw and Kyaiklat • 2.4 million people severely affected by Cyclone UNDP is the only UN organization with field offices Nargis across Myanmar located in the region, which, prior to the cyclone was • 1.4 million people affected in the Ayeyarwady delta, home to seven million people. UNDP staff and families the hardest hit region of Myanmar experienced the natural disaster first-hand, as did those • 43,241 estimated total beneficiaries from UNDP coordinated relief efforts as of 21 May who work for partner non-governmental organization (NGO) PACT, which lost five of its project personnel. Supporting relief efforts: UNDP sent rotating teams UNDP has 40 functioning field offices in the delta and of national staff to work with and relieve its field staff in current field staff strength of more than 500 five of the affected townships – Bogale, experienced national staff and project personnel, Mawlamyinegyun, Labutta, Ngapudaw and Kyaiklat – including those of PACT.
    [Show full text]
  • Storm Surge and Its Effect- a Review on Disaster Management in Coastal Areas
    Review Article Civil Eng Res J Volume 4 Issue 5 - May 2018 Copyright © All rights are reserved by Chippy M Rajan DOI: 10.19080/CERJ.2018.04.555649 Storm Surge and its Effect- A Review on Disaster Management in Coastal Areas Chippy M Rajan1* and Jawahar Saud S2 1Department of Civil Engineering, Kerala Technological University, India 2Department of Civil Engineering, Federal Institute of Technology, India Submission: February 28, 2017; Published: May 08, 2018 *Corresponding author: Chippy M Rajan, Department of Civil Engineering, FISAT, Kerala TechnologicalUniversity, Ernakulam, India, Email: Abstract Globally, about 1.2 billion people reside in coastal areas presently, and this population scale is predicted to increase with time. With increase in coastal population the chances of exposure to storm surge is also increasing. Storm surge expose coastal areas and its residents to risk of loss of life, fatal injuries, property damage etc. Even though we cannot completely avoid the effect of this hazard, we can reduce the effect of hazard by proper study on the area under exposure and implementing a disaster management plan with adequate preparedness and mitigation strategies. Thus coastal hazard management has become an important aspect of coastal planning so as to develop the resilience of society towards coastal hazards. Hard engineering structures, soft protection measures, and managed retreat from the coastline are some of the possible management options. In this paper the study focus on the storm surge phenomenon, its effects and risk on people, environment, engineering structures and other infrastructure. It also covers the pre-disaster phases of disaster management cycle that is the common preparedness and mitigation strategies described along with incidents during past storm surge disaster.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstruct the 1970 Bhola Cyclone and Analysis the Effects of Cyclone Track and Tide to the Flooding Area AOS21-P14
    AOS21-P14 JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2020 Reconstruct the 1970 Bhola Cyclone and Analysis the Effects of Cyclone Track and Tide to the Flooding Area *Po-Sen Tseng1, Tso-Ren Wu1, CHIA-CHUN HSU1, Chun-Wei Lin1, Shun-Chun Chunag1, Mei-Hui Chunag1 1. Graduate Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, Nation Central University Bhola Cyclone caused nearly half a million casualties in the Bay of Bengal in 1970 This research aims to reconstruct the storm surge event and understand the effects of tides and cyclone track on the flooding area. In this study, the numerical simulations were performed with COMCOT storm surge model. The nonlinear shallow-water wave equation was solved on spherical coordinates, and physical terms such as pressure gradient force, wind shear force, bed friction force and Coriolis force were added to the momentum equation. To reconstruct the storm surge event, the tide component was considered by importing tidal boundary forcing from TPXO Global Tidal Solutions. The scenarios take a variety of cyclone track, cyclone moving speed, and cyclone intensity. Sensitivity tests are further introduced to see the storm coincides with high tide. The results can help to understand the influence of tides and other cyclone parameters on flooding, also provide a practical contribution to the quick alert and disaster control of the storm surge in the Bay of Bengal in the future. Keywords: Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, COMCOT Model, Storm Surge, Tide and Path, Overflow ©2020. Japan Geoscience Union. All Right Reserved. - AOS21-P14 - AOS21-P14 JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2020 ©2020. Japan Geoscience Union.
    [Show full text]
  • UK Aid in Burma
    UKAID In BUrmA What is international development? also renewed the government’s International development is about commitment to increase UK aid to helping people fight poverty. Thanks 0.7% of national income from 2013. to the efforts of governments and people around the world, there are What is the Department for 500 million fewer people living in International Development? poverty today than there were 25 The Department for International years ago. But there is still much Development (DFID), leads the UK more to do. government’s fight against world poverty. 1.4 billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day. More needs to Since its creation in 1997, DFID has happen to increase incomes, settle helped more than 250 million people conflicts, increase opportunities for lift themselves from poverty and trade, tackle climate change, improve helped 40 million more children to people’s health and their chances to go to primary school. But there is get an education. still much to do to help make a fair, safe and sustainable world for all. Why is the UK government involved? Through its network of offices Each year the UK government helps throughout the world, DFID three million people to lift themselves works with governments of out of poverty. Ridding the world developing countries, charities, of poverty is not just morally right, non‑government organisations, it will make the world a better businesses and international place for everyone. Problems faced organisations, like the United by poor countries affect all of us, Nations, European Commission and including the UK. Britain’s fastest the World Bank, to eliminate global growing export markets are in poor poverty and its causes.
    [Show full text]
  • Inter-Agency Real Time Evaluation of the Response to Cyclone Nargis
    Inter-Agency Real Time Evaluation of the Response to Cyclone Nargis 17 December 2008 Robert Turner Jock Baker Dr. Zaw Myo Oo Naing Soe Aye Managed and funded by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), Policy Development and Studies Branch (PDSB), Evaluation and Studies Section (ESS), on behalf of the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Contents Acronyms ......................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................................................iv Map of Myanmar................................................................................................................................................v 1 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 1.2 Summary of Key Findings .......................................................................................................1 1.2.1 Consultation and Capacity Building..............................................................................2 1.2.2 Disaster Risk Reduction and Livelihoods .....................................................................2 1.2.3 Coordination..................................................................................................................2
    [Show full text]
  • Myanmar-Jews.Pdf
    8*9** Letter Myanmar-- from After decades of repressive military rule, Burma’s Jewish community has dwindled to about 20 members. Is there hope for its future? A rare look at life inside the isolated country. Story by Jeremy Gillick Photos by Chris Daw As the sun sets in Burma, now known as Myanmar, a small group of Jews descends on the Park Royal Hotel in down­ town Yangon, formerly Rangoon. I arrive unfashionably early, hoping to steal some private time with Sammy Samuels, the debonair Burmese-American host of the third annual Myan­ mar Jewish Community Dinner Reception. But apparently it is fashionable for Burmese Jews to arrive late, and Sammy is no­ where to be found. At 6:30, tuxedoed caterers begin distribut­ ing glasses of Israeli and French wines to guests socializing in the lobby. I chat briefly with Cho, the daughter of Myanmar’s foreign minister, who professes her love for Israel, and then with an impeccably dressed British diplomat who is superb at making small talk. When I ask if I should be concerned about reporting from such a public location, he points to secret po­ lice lurking in the corners and suggests steering clear of dis­ cussing politics. “Once you’ve lived here a while, they’re easy to spot,” he says. At last, Sammy himself strides in. Short with a wide face, kind eyes and dark hair puffed up in the front, his relaxed de­ meanor belies the gravity of the task ahead of him. He is one of perhaps 20 Jews—many of them elderly or intermarried—left in the entire country.
    [Show full text]
  • Rehabilitation, Reconstruction & Development a Post Cyclone Nargis Initiative
    Rehabilitation, Reconstruction & Development A Post Cyclone Nargis Initiative 1 2 Metta Development Foundation Table of Contents Forward, Executive Director 2 A Post Cyclone Nargis Initiative - Executive Summary 6 01. Introduction – Waves of Change The Ayeyarwady Delta 10 Metta’s Presence in the Delta. The Tsunami 11 02. Cyclone Nargis –The Disaster 12 03. The Emergency Response – Metta on Site 14 04. The Global Proposal 16 The Proposal 16 Connecting Partners - Metta as Hub 17 05. Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development August 2008-July 2011 18 Introduction 18 A01 – Relief, Recovery and Capacity Building: Rice and Roofs 18 A02 – Food Security: Sowing and Reaping 26 A03 – Education: For Better Tomorrows 34 A04 – Health: Surviving and Thriving 40 A05 – Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation: Providing and Protecting 44 A06 – Lifeline Systems and Transportation: The Road to Safety 46 Conclusion 06. Local Partners – The Communities in the Delta: Metta Meeting Needs 50 07. International Partners – The Donor Community Meeting Metta: Metta Day 51 08. Reporting and External Evaluation 52 09. Cyclones and Earthquakes – Metta put anew to the Test 55 10. Financial Review 56 11. Beyond Nargis, Beyond the Delta 59 12. Thanks 60 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 61 Staff Directory 62 Volunteers 65 Annex 1 - The Emergency Response – Metta on Site 68 Annex 2 – Maps 76 Annex 3 – Tables 88 Rehabilitation, Reconstruction & Development A Post Cyclone Nargis Initiative 3 Forword Dear Friends, Colleagues and Partners On the night of 2 May 2008, Cyclone Nargis struck the delta of the Ayeyarwady River, Myanmar’s most densely populated region. The cyclone was at the height of its destructive potential and battered not only the southernmost townships but also the cities of Yangon and Bago before it finally diminished while approaching the mountainous border with Thailand.
    [Show full text]