Local reports in Burma say a cyclone killed more than 350 people and ripped apart thousands of homes, but tensions between the country and the West may make its military government reluctant to ask for international aid.
Five states within Myanmar, also known as Burma, have been declared disaster areas, reported Myaddy television, which is operated by the military. Those are Yangon, Irrawaddy, Bago, Karen and Mon states.
The military has controlled Burma since 1962 and has been blamed for wide-spread human rights abuses and violent crackdowns on pro-democracy activists. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for nearly 12 of the past 18 years.
Elliot Tepper, a professor of Asian studies in Carleton University, said the ruling military is unprepared to cope with recovery efforts in the wake of the cyclone.
"They are totally unprepared. The country is potentially one of the wealthiest in Asia, but has been driven into misery and poverty by the junta," he told CTV Newsnet.
Western nations would need the permission of Burma's government before delivering aid and helping in reconstruction efforts. The Forum for Democracy in Burma and other dissident groups have called for the military government to allow aid groups to operate freely.
"International expertise in dealing with natural disasters is urgently required. The military regime is ill-prepared to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone," said Naing Aung, the Thailand-based group's secretary general.
The Red Cross has started distributing shelter kits and related supplies in Yangon.
The cyclone struck days before a May 10 constitutional referendum, which critics say has been designed to entrench the military's hold on power despite a promise of a general election in 2010.
Chris Kaye, the UN's acting humanitarian co-ordinator, said Sunday that thousands of homes have been destroyed, with the low-lying Irrawaddy delta being hit the hardest.
"The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge," he said from Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon. "The villages there have reportedly been completely flattened."
State television said that 75 per cent of the buildings in Irrawaddy's Labutta township had collapsed.
Witnesses are saying Tropical Cyclone Narnis packed winds of about 190 kilometres per hour, blew the roofs off of hundreds of homes and left the commercial capital of Yangon without power.
The city's international airport is also shut down. Domestic flights are being directed to the airport in Mandalay.
Tropical Cyclone Narnis struck about 5 a.m. local time on Saturday. Casualties had been expected.
Yangon residents did venture outside on Sunday to look for building materials with which to repair their home. Many found that prices for materials, food and gasoline have skyrocketed. Some were angry the military-led government had done little so far to help them.
"Where are all those uniformed people who are always ready to beat civilians?" said one man, who refused to be identified for fear of retribution. "They should come out in full force and help clean up the areas and restore electricity."
Kaye said the UN will send in damage assessment teams on Monday. Initial efforts have been hampered by the debris clogging roads and the downed phone lines, he said.
With files from The Associated Press
