In the Eye of the Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone

Monk stands on the second floor of Gwaja monastery, left in ruins by Cyclone Nargis in Pyapon, Irrawaddy Delta, Burma (Myanmar).	Body of a young boy floats with debris of coconuts and banana tree trunks in and out with the tide after Cyclone Nargis struck the village of Nawpyando, Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar). Unlike in Thailand in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, there were no centers where victims' bodies were gathered for families to seek out their loved ones. Bodies were not collected at all in this area of the Irrawaddy River Delta.	Woman cooks in her kitchen completely exposed by the slicing winds of Cyclone Nargis, Irrawaddy River Delta, Kyaiklat, Burma (Myanmar).
Woman moves through debris in the devastated village of Nawpyando, which was inundated by Cyclone Nargis' storm surge that brought the level of water up in the village to 1.7 m (5 1/2 ft.), Irrawaddy River Delta, Myanmar (Burma). Had she not been huddled in the highest part of her family's house during the storm, she would have been swept away and drowned.The village is 2+ m (6 1/2 ft.) above river level.	Shell-shocked villagers from Nawpyando, which was inundated by Cyclone Nargis' storm surge that brought the level of water up in the village to 1.7 m (5 1/2 ft.), Irrawaddy River Delta, Myanmar (Burma).	Finally, on the second day following Cyclone Nargis, Burmese military personnel could be seen on the streets of Yangon clearing century-old fallen trees from roads, but not distributing water or food, Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).
Great Buddha statue at Gwaja monastery looms behind family seeking shelter from the midday sun under a tree amidst the monastery ruins in Pyapon, Irrawaddy River Delta, Myanmar (Burma).	Young boys from the devastated village of Nawpyando, which was inundated by Cyclone Nargis' storm surge that brought the level of water up in the village to 1.7 m (5 1/2 ft.), look down upon the corpse of a victim roughly their age, Irrawaddy River Delta, Myanmar (Burma).	Women from the devastated village of Nawpyando do their washing in river water contaminated by the corpses of human and animal victims of Cyclone Nargis, greatly increasing the chances of waterborne diseases, Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar).
Survivor: A baby, safe and sound for now, rests in a badly damaged wooden house in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Kyaiklat, Burma (Myanmar).	Cyclone Nargis bears down full force, snapping trees and sending debris flying in Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).	Woman salvages desk from her ruined wooden house in the Irrawaddy River Delta after Cyclone Nargis tore through Kyaiklat, Burma (Myanmar).
Boat leaves disheveled waterfront at Pyapon for villages deeper in the Irrawaddy River which were inundated by Cyclone Nargis' storm surge, Burma (Myanmar).	Woman walks carefully over what used to be the palm-thatched roof of her home which was badly damaged (rear) by Cyclone Nargis, in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Kyaiklat, Burma (Myanmar).	Debris and animal carcasses contaminate the waterfront of the Irrawaddy River Delta village of Nawpyando, Burma (Myanmar).
Bewildered passengers at the rail of a stranded river ferry left beached opposite Yangon by Cyclone Nargis' storm surge, Dalah, Burma (Myanmar).	Crystalline Tragedy: A female toddler whose ankle has been tied by twine, perhaps by a loved one to prevent separation, floats in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar). What happened to other members of her family may never be known because, unlike in Thailand in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, no effort has been made to collect bodies so that bereaved families might bury their dead.	Young monks make rounds gathering alms amid massive fallen trees in central Yangon in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).
Sunken ship and floating debris in an exceedingly high tide that hints at the height of the storm surge one day after Cyclone Nargis struck Yangon, seen across the river from Dalah, Burma (Myanmar).	Family living with minimal shelter beside road to Bogale because they are too afraid to return to their shattered homes in the flooded fields, Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar).	Villagers in Nawpyando brace themselves against the odor of death wafting up from corpses, animal and human, that the tide has brought into the Irrawaddy River Delta following Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).
Yangon residents commute by walking the tracks after Cyclone Nargis knocked out train service, Burma (Myanmar).	Vendor has set up shop close to a massive concrete sidewalk slab lifted by the roots of a century-old tree brought down by Cyclone Nargis, Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).	Residents of Yangon try to get on with life amid the debris brought down by Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).
Woman cooking at one of scores of sidewalk restaurants in Yangon, surrounded by the branches of a large tree uprooted by Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).	Body of an unidentified female victim of Cyclone Nargis that has washed up on the bank of the Pyapon River in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar). Unlike in Thailand in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, no effort has been made by the Burma (Myanmar) military junta to collect bodies so that bereaved families might identify and bury their dead family members.	Man takes a break from dismantling battered wooden structure in the riverfront market in Pyapon, which took the full brunt of Cyclone Nargis, in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar).
As the boat to the worst-hit areas sets off from the riverfront in Pyapon, this solemn crowd saw us off, Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar).	Boatmen join forces to pull a small cross-river ferry to Yangon, left high and dry upon the riverbank the day before by Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).	Very little was seen of the military junta in the Irrawaddy River Delta besides this military helicopter carrying a high-ranking officer as it disrupted traffic in Kyaiklat, Burma (Myanmar).
Cars line up for petrol in the days following Cyclone Nargis as prices rose to 10,000 Kyats/gallon (U.S.$10/ gallon), Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).	Corpses of victims washed up on the Pyapon River bank mingle with those of domesticated animals deep in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar).	Riverfront market in Pyapon that was torn apart by Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy River Delta, Burma (Myanmar).
Residents of Chinatown line up for distribution of clean water in Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).	Residents from across the river in Dalah come to Yangon the morning after Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).	A plane from Russia is the only one on May 9 at Yangon International Airport bringing relief supplies that Burmese soldiers place on the tarmac (left) and wait to help out, Burma (Myanmar). International relief workers have been denied entry visas to the country.
Intoxicated men hold rotting fish that they plucked from the Yangon River and plan to eat in front of a battered passenger ferry dock that was destroyed in Cyclone Nargis, Burma (Myanmar).	Yangon residents bathe for the first time in two days in the street beside a clean water distribution site, Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).	Ships left beached by Cyclone Nargis line bank of Yangon River the morning after the storm, Dalah, Burma (Myanmar).
Fallen tree does not prevent sidewalk tea shop from opening for business in central Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).