Cyclone, Myanmar, Relief, Direct Help, Myanmar People, Fast aid, Medicines, Food, Shelter

• The Delta covers 5900 square miles, or about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined

• It is (was) the most densely populated area in Myanmar. The population was estimated at around 7.2 million and one of the most important regions of Myanmar.

• Before the British annexed Burma, the Delta had little population and mainly consisted of wetlands and forests. But the British cleared most of the land for rice production. Under the British the Delta was considered the "Rice Basket" of Asia.

• The Delta is made up of thousands of small islands, mudflats, and a labryinth of thousands of rivers, creeks and estuaries.

•Besides rice the Delta also produces jute, pulses, groundnut, sesame, coconut, bananas, chili, various vegetables, sugarcane and beans. The fish based industries include fish paste, fish, prawns, and salt-making.

• The Delta area is so very fertile because the Ayeyarwaddy is one of the most silted rivers in the world, with a sedimentation rate of 299 million tons per year. It is fifth behind the Yellow, the Ganges, the Amazon and the Mississippi.

•The Delta region receives from 60 to 100 inches of rainfall a year and is made up of mangrove forests and freshwater swamp forests.

•Animal life in the Delta consists of Asian elephants, sambar, hog deer, wild boar, tigers, leopards and salt water crocodiles. These are the very large crocodiles with lengths up to 22 feet and the reputation as a man-eater. The 1982 population was estimated at 4000.

•The Delta is also an important wetlands for migrating birds, such as plovers, sandpipers, black-tailed godwit, eurasion curlew, storks, bitterns, herons, egrets, ducks, jacana, pratinoles and terns.

Authors Note: How would you have evacuated 7.2 million people with only 1/2 a day's warning whose population is spread over 1000s of islands with only small rivers and creeks where large boats cannot navigate? In fact, how would you warn them? The bulk of these people do not have phones, or electricity.


	THE GREAT DELTA REGION OF MYANMAR *by Carolyn Voss* • The Delta covers 5900 square miles, or about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined • It is (was) the most densely populated area in Myanmar. The population was estimated at around 7.2 million and one of the most important regions of Myanmar. • Before the British annexed Burma, the Delta had little population and mainly consisted of wetlands and forests. But the British cleared most of the land for rice production. Under the British the Delta was considered the "Rice Basket" of Asia. • The Delta is made up of thousands of small islands, mudflats, and a labryinth of thousands of rivers, creeks and estuaries. •Besides rice the Delta also produces jute, pulses, groundnut, sesame, coconut, bananas, chili, various vegetables, sugarcane and beans. The fish based industries include fish paste, fish, prawns, and salt-making. • The Delta area is so very fertile because the Ayeyarwaddy is one of the most silted rivers in the world, with a sedimentation rate of 299 million tons per year. It is fifth behind the Yellow, the Ganges, the Amazon and the Mississippi. •The Delta region receives from 60 to 100 inches of rainfall a year and is made up of mangrove forests and freshwater swamp forests. •Animal life in the Delta consists of Asian elephants, sambar, hog deer, wild boar, tigers, leopards and salt water crocodiles. These are the very large crocodiles with lengths up to 22 feet and the reputation as a man-eater. The 1982 population was estimated at 4000. •The Delta is also an important wetlands for migrating birds, such as plovers, sandpipers, black-tailed godwit, eurasion curlew, storks, bitterns, herons, egrets, ducks, jacana, pratinoles and terns. Authors Note: How would you have evacuated 7.2 million people with only 1/2 a day's warning whose population is spread over 1000s of islands with only small rivers and creeks where large boats cannot navigate? In fact, how would you warn them? The bulk of these people do not have phones, or electricity.