page_title: Cyclone Nargis
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Cyclone Nargis / Aftermath / International relief / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Joint Task Force Caring Response brings help to Burma. U.S, Air Force members from Yokota Air Base, Japan, assist with the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies for the people of Burma May 19 at Yangon International Airport in Burma. Approximately 15,000 pounds of water, water containers and mosquito netting were unloaded from the C-130 Hercules aircraft. The Air Force members are part of the Joint Task Force Caring Response, a multi-service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief effort for Burmese citizens devastated by a recent cyclone.
context_page_description: Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis was an extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar during early May 2008. The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday, 2 May 2008, sending a storm surge 40 kilometres up the densely populated Irrawaddy delta, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,373 fatalities. The Labutta Township alone was reported to have 80,000 dead, with about 10,000 more deaths in Bogale. There were around 55,000 people missing and many other deaths were found in other towns and areas, although the Myanmar government's official death toll may have been under-reported, and there have been allegations that government officials stopped updating the death toll after 138,000 to minimise political fallout. The feared 'second wave' of fatalities from disease and lack of relief efforts never materialised. Damage was at $12 billion, making Nargis the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the North Indian Ocean at the time, before that record was broken by Cyclone Amphan in 2020.
context_section_description: On 5 May, US Chargé d'Affaires in Myanmar Shari Villarosa declared a disaster due to the effects of Cyclone Nargis. In response, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and immediately provided $2 million to UNICEF, WFP, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for emergency food, water and sanitation, and shelter assistance.
  On 6 May, an additional $3 million from USAID was allocated for the provision of emergency relief assistance, including $1 million to the American Red Cross and $2 million for NGO partners and on 12 May, USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore announced $13 million in food aid and logistics assistance through the World Food Programme.
  From 12 to 20 May, USAID and the US Department of Defense (DOD) coordinated the delivery of nearly $1.2 million of US relief commodities to Rangoon on 185 DOD C-130 flights. The relief supplies would provide assistance to more than 113,000 beneficiaries.  The DOD efforts were under the direction of Joint Task Force Caring Response.
  As of 26 June 2008, United States assistance had totalled $41,169,769 and continued to be directed by the USAID DART stationed in Thailand.
caption: US Air Force personnel deliver relief supplies to Myanmar
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