MYANMAR: As many as 13,000 people have died in the devastating cyclone that struck Myanmar on May 2.

There are fears that the number of dead could rise dramatically as authorities try and reach islands and villages still cut off from the rest of the country due to the breakdown of all communication lines.

Thousands were left homeless and without basic utilities in central Myanmar in the wake of the storm, which blew off the Bay of Bengal late on Friday packing winds of up to 200 km per hour, which caused untold damage to the country's already fragile infrastructure and food supply.
 
In Bangkok, United Nations agencies and other international aid organisations met on Monday to prepare for emergency disaster relief for the country, although Myanmar's military leaders had yet to give the green light for such an operation.
 
"That's basically a limitation, but the Ggovernment has at least not said no," said Terje Skavdal, regional director of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), who headed the Bangkok meeting.