The United Nations' World Food Program launched a massive effort this week to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to cyclone-shattered villages in Myanmar's southern coastal region.
While the death toll from the weekend's storm is unclear, news reports from the Southeast Asian country have placed the number of dead as high as 22,000.
WFP officials called the initial steps to deliver aid to Myanmar "an enormous logistics challenge," because much of the coastal areas affected remain cut off and isolated due to flooding and road damage. The Myanmar government has also long been weary of outside interference in internal matters.
"WFP and other emergency response agencies must be able to plan, assess and operate in a challenging emergency environment all at the same time," said Tony Banbury, WFP's Asia regional director, in a statement.
WFP has more than 800 metric tons of food stocks available in its warehouses in Yangon. The UN relief agency will airlift additional food supplies, including high-energy biscuits into Myanmar "as soon as possible."
An initial emergency operation launched May 6 and valued at $500,000 will fund immediate airlifts of food aid and cover initial emergency response staff deployments in Myanmar.
In addition to food, WFP will supply emergency medical supplies, water purification kits, ready to eat meals and plastic sheeting for repairing shelters and homes.
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