The United States was finally allowed to deliver aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar despite some resistance from the country's military rulers. Richard Horsey of the United Nations: "The authorities of the country need to open up to an international relief effort. There aren't enough boats, trucks, helicopters in the country to run the relief effort of the scale we need."

The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa, says the death toll in the flooded country, currently estimated at 20,000, may actually be 100,000 or greater.

An estimated 22,000 people are dead and another 41,000 are missing in Myanmar (also known as Burma), less than a week after tidal waves and floods caused by a cyclone battered the region. Myanmar is ruled by a military dictatorship that is refusing to allow international aid into the country.