Fresh cyclone fears for Myanmar

2008-05-14 12:03

Bangkok - The United Nations warned on Wednesday that another cyclone could be forming over Myanmar, where up to two million people are still awaiting food and water after Cyclone Nargis.

Amanda Pitt, spokesperson for the UN's disaster response arm, said that a US Defence Department monitoring centre - the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) - was reporting the possibility of another heavy storm over the country.

"I understand there are torrential rains, and that a cyclone might be forming," she told a press conference in Bangkok.

She stressed, however, that the information did not mean a fresh cyclone would indeed hit the devastated country.

The JTWC, based in Hawaii, said on its website that a tropical storm was forming near Myanmar's main city of Yangon.

"The potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours is good with the only limitation being temporary land interaction," it said.

Up to 62 000 people are dead or missing after Cyclone Nargis slammed into the southwest delta area on May 2 and 3, and aid workers are struggling to reach survivors with urgently needed food, water and shelter.

Pitt said that even the coming monsoon rains would hamper aid efforts.

"It's terrible. This is always another worry," she said.

- AFP