Weekly Reader | Lead Story | Help Is On the Way

Place your cursor over the slideshow for captions.

illions of people in the Asian country of Myanmar are struggling to recover from the fierce cyclone that hit their nation on May 2 and 3. Charities and aid organizations around the world are working hard to help. They are trying to send food, clean water, and medical supplies.

The storm, named Cyclone Nargis, affected the country’s main rice-producing area, the Irrawaddy River delta. It also hit the major city of Yangon. As of May 6, Myanmar's government had counted 22,500 people killed and 41,000 missing.

Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, is located east of India. Two to three million children and their family members in the country are currently homeless and in desperate need of water, food, shelter, and medicine, according to the relief agency Save the Children.

“Right now we’re focused on immediate life-saving assistance, so we will continue with the food and nonfood items that will help get people through these coming days,” Kate Conradt, a spokesperson for Save the Children, told Weekly Reader. “You have standing water and contaminated well water, so there is a potential for waterborne diseases ... to rise up. We’re going to do whatever we can to ensure that that doesn’t happen by getting clean water [to them] and helping people get back to normal life.”

Think About It

What types of major storms are possible in the area where you live? What can you do to be prepared for a weather emergency?

The storm left much of the delta region under water. People’s homes were swept away. Many villages were destroyed. “Most urgent need is food and water,” Andrew Kirkwood, head of Save the Children in Yangon, told The Associated Press. “Many people are getting sick. The whole place is under salt water and there is nothing to drink. They can’t use tablets to purify salt water.” Finding food is also a concern. Most of the country’s rice is produced in the Irrawaddy River delta. Rice is a major source of food and income for the people of Myanmar.

As of May 7, Save the Children had sent about 2 tons of supplies to 50,000 people in Myanmar. Conradt says the supplies included food, cooking supplies, water, water purification tablets, and plastic sheeting for shelter.

Other charity workers are waiting in Myanmar’s embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, for permission to get into Myanmar with more life-saving supplies. Getting aid to Myanmar has not been easy. Myanmar is ruled by its military, which keeps the country largely isolated from foreigners. On May 7, the United Nations asked the government of Myanmar to quickly allow aid workers into the country.

Help from Myanmar’s government has been limited. People told reporters that the government did not warn them about or prepare them for the cyclone. After the storm, citizens cleared trees from roads and worked on recovery efforts themselves. Meanwhile, prices for bottled water and rice doubled in Myanmar. That added to concerns for people in the already poor nation.

Save the Children — Read more about this group's attempts to help the people of Myanmar.

UNICEF — Visit this site to find out more — including audio and video clips —about the United Nations' Myanmar rescue efforts.

What do you know about major storms? Try our Big Storm Quiz .