Release Date: 2008-05-07
Original Link: http://presszoom.com/story_144872.html
Washington -- The United States is providing $3.25 million in humanitarian aid to Burma and is prepared to do considerably more if the ruling military junta would permit, the White House says. "The United States has made an initial aid contribution, but we want to do a lot more," President Bush said May 6.
(PressZoom.com) - Washington -- The United States is providing $3.25 million in humanitarian aid to Burma and is prepared to do considerably more if the ruling military junta would permit, the White House says.
"The United States has made an initial aid contribution, but we want to do a lot more," President Bush said May 6. "We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who've lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country."
Cyclone Nargis struck Burma's Irrawaddy delta region May 3, and has left at least 22,464 people dead and thousands more missing or believed dead, according to state-run radio May 6. The United Nations has said that, based on satellite images, the storm's damage has affected an area of about 11,600 square miles (30,000 square kilometers) along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines. Many of the places are remote and difficult to reach.
White House press secretary Dana Perino announced the United States was sending $3 million to help the cyclone victims, who live in a region where most of the nation's rice crop is grown and that includes Burma's biggest city, Rangoon.
After the storm struck, the American chargé d'affaires, Shari Villarosa, announced a "disaster declaration," immediately provided $250,000 from the U.S. Embassy emergency fund and sought permission to provide a disaster assistance response team (DART) from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Villarosa told CNN television news that "the situation is very bad and not getting better."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said May 6 that the DART team is currently in Bangkok, Thailand, waiting for visas to enter Burma. "We have applied for visas with the Burmese government, [and] have yet to receive permission for our disaster relief people to travel in there," he said.
Meanwhile, Perino said that the affected areas need plastic sheeting, water purification tablets, cooking sets, mosquito nets, emergency health kits, food and possibly fuel supplies.
The U.S. Navy has three ships in the Gulf of Thailand for military training exercises that could be dispatched to Burma within four days, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in Washington. That group includes the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship, the USS Juneau and the USS Harper's Ferry. The Essex has 23 helicopters on board that could be used in providing support for moving emergency supplies inland to remote areas struck by the cyclone.
Also within reach of Burma are two aircraft carrier groups led by the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Nimitz, which have helicopters on board along with extensive medical teams and support personnel, the Pentagon says.
"Let the United States come to help you, help the people," Bush said. "We want to help them deal with this terrible disaster."
With Burma's main airport in Rangoon reopened after the storm, the U.S. Air Force also is standing by to begin flying in relief supplies.
The U.S. Voice of America (VOA) radio has been broadcasting information to the Burmese people about how to protect themselves from water-borne diseases and about sanitation measures they can take, a VOA spokesman said. Two Burmese doctors have been VOA's contacts.