End of the World Update

Developing countries are having a particularly bad week dealing with disasters:

-Cyclone Nagris, a storm no more powerful than Katrina or a Dean, smacked Myanmar last Saturday, killing at least 22,000 people, a number that will likely double or triple before it is all said and done.  The military junta government is blamed for not issuing warnings before the storm and for hesitating to accept aid after the storm.  The meager amount of aid that is trickling into the country cannot reach the hardest-hit Irrawaddy Delta because of the nation's poor infrastructure and absent emergency services.  Pallets of food are unloaded by hand because the airport didn't have any forklifts available.  Rampant inflation and price-gouging is placing the cost of bare essentials--a bag of rice now tops $40--painfully out of reach of a populace where the average daily income is less than $2.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24478247/