Cyclone Nargis

Question 1

General Facts

Answer 1

• Category 4
• Indian Ocean
  
  • Burma
  • Bangladesh
  • India
  • Sri Lanka
• 138,366 deaths (98,000 from disease, thirst, starvation or injury)
• Max. Wind speed 135mph

Question 2

Economic Primary Effect

Answer 2

• Costliest disaster in Burmese history
• Immediate impacts on agricultural industry
  
  • damage to rice paddies
  • death of livestock
• destruction of infrastructure

Question 3

Social Primary Effects

Answer 3

• 130,000+ deaths
• 450,000 homes destroyed
• 4,000 schools damaged/destroyed
• 75% of all health facilities destroyed in the area

Question 4

Social Secondary Effects

Answer 4

• Homelessness + loss of community for 500,000 people
• rising cost of food meant social unrest
• survivors went weeks without suffiecient water, medication, shelter or any means of escape from the flooded areas
• 98,000 died from issues related to thirst, starvation, injuries or disease
• Youthful population

Question 5

Environmental Primary Effects

Answer 5

• 75,000ha of mangrove forest swap damaged
• Pollution of ground water supplies meant contamination of drinking water
• Rice paddy fields inundated by saltwater from storm surges + eroded by its power
• rivers filled with sediment and debris

Question 6

Environmental Secondary Effects

Answer 6

• Natural storm surge protection from mangroves no longr able to protect Burma
• Wildlife + habitats in coastal deltas heavily affected
  
  • breeding, migration and food supplies take many years to recover

Question 7

Long-Term Response

Answer 7

• Much Unknown
  
  • government is a military junta, very closed
• 1 year on - poor + ineffective
  
  • only 66% UN Funding ($305mn)
  • 17,000/450,000 houses rebuilt
  • 500,000 still in temporary shelter

Question 8

Immediate Response

Answer 8

• 20 tonnes food (Bangladesh)
• 30 tonnes emergency equipment (Italy)
• 4 tonnes of supplies (India)
• Navy Support (UK)

Question 9

Economic Secondary effects

Answer 9

• $10bn for a poor country is a lot, leads to issues of underfunding for state services.
• 65% rice paddies damaged/destroyed
  
  • rice takes time to grow back
    
    • no rice business anymore
• economic productivity decrease
• price of rice and cooking oil tripled