Burma: Interviews with cyclone survivors

In the town of Daydayeh, south of Gadon-mani, in places like Gadon-lay and Khatta Island, Nauk-mee, Gawdu, Ashay-bya, and Kaing-thaung, Aye-ya, Gadon, there are corpses floating. Some floated into the sea. It seems like there’s no rescue operation over there. People are helpless now.

This woman interviewee is from one of the villages (she lists them during the interview) worst-hit by Tropical Cyclone Nargis at the weekend. She happened to be in Rangoon just before the cyclone struck, but knew about the situation back home because she was able to talk with some people from her village who escaped to a monastery in Rangoon. All three interviewees used the same cellphone to talk to RFA’s Burmese service:

Woman: In Hledan, people had cleared the area, including the trees, and now the military came and took pictures as if it was their work. I don’t know whether it was to put in the newspapers. They’re just faking it. Actually, it’s the people who are doing these things on their own. Monks have been clearing up the trees, and they’ve told the monks not to do so. Also, there are many people in hospitals who are willing to donate blood to those who are in need, but they can’t accept blood because there’s no power and cold storages. Those who need blood can’t receive blood now.

Interviewer: Where is that?

Woman: It’s at the [Rangoon] General Hospital as well as the Western Hospital. There are patients who need blood. There are people who are ready to donate blood. And yet since there’s no cold storage, they cannot donate blood. They cannot accept blood. There was one patient hospitalized today. There are people who need blood.

In the town of Daydayeh, south of Gadon-mani, in places like Gadon-lay and Khatta Island, Nauk-mee, Gawdu, Ashay-bya, and Kaing-thaung, Aye-ya, Gadon, there are corpses floating. Some floated into the sea. It seems like there’s no rescue operation over there. People are helpless now.

Interviewer: Where in Rangoon is that?

Woman: It’s in Gadon-mani. It’s a big village in Bogalay. It’s a sub township of Bogalay. It’s south of Bogalay. It’ll take about 5 hours from Bogalay. It’s Gadon-mani village. It’s in Irrawaddy Division. It’s in Gadon-mani village. Near that is Gadon-lay. The name of that village. There’s Zayet-kyee, also called Khatta Island. There’s Gawdu and Nauk-mee, Hpaung-gyee-dan, Ashay-bya, Kaing-thaung, the airport compound - those areas. Also in Poe-laung and Mya-tha. In all of those areas. There’s no one to rescue them. Corpses are also floating. There’s nothing to eat or drink. There’s no rescue.

Interviewer: Approximately how many are there?

Woman: You can’t even count the number of bodies of the dead children and adults. That’s the situation. There’s no one to rescue people there. We are told that [rescue] people have not reached that area. I would like to request as much help as possible for areas such as Gadon-lay, Thayet-kyee, Nauk-mee, Gawdu, Htaung-gyee-dan, Gadon-mani, Aye-yar, Kaing-taung, Oh-laung, Mya-tha, and the airport area. Beyond that is only the ocean.

Interviewer: No one is there yet?

Woman: No, not yet. There are no ships for transportation. Thiha Zaw and Yannaing Aung, docked in Gadon-mani, have sunk. While docked at the yard, they banged against each other and have sunk. All the boats have sunk too.

Interviewer: How are the survivors living?

Woman: There are only few survivors in Gadon-mani.

Interviewer: How are they living now? Currently?

Woman: There are survivors in Gadon-mani. They are sharing the food that they still have. They are facing difficulties.

Interviewer: How are they living?

Woman: There are still shops. They are living on dried goods like rice, oil, and medicine, from these shops. It takes about 5 hours from Bogalay to reach Gadon-mani. From Gadon-mani, there’s Aye-yar, and there’s Zayet-kyee, which is also called Khatta Island, which is totally submerged under water. The water is about 15 feet high. The entire village is under water. Gadon-lay is under water. I would like to make a request to send rescue people there.

Interviewer: Which village are you from?

Woman: I am from Gadon-mani. On Khatta Island, the entire village is under water. The entire village of Gadon-lay is also under water. There are many villages like that. In that area, there are over 40 villages. They’re connected to Laputta. There are the airport, Poe-laung, and Mya-tha, and Kaing-thaung. That area is totally gone. They’ve totally submerged under the ocean. In Day-dayeh, there are corpses of adults and children in the Day-dayeh river. There’s no one to get them and burry them since there are too many of them. One moment please. There’s someone who’d like to talk to you. One moment.

Man I: Hello.

Interviewer: Yes, please speak.

Man I: I’d like to tell you about the situation in Rangoon today.

Interviewer: Yes, please do.

Man I: They say the military is clearing up places and distributing water, they are doing these things only in their main areas. They distributed water to houses connected to them. Other places didn’t get it. People are in great trouble. There’s no water to drink or to bathe. Another news I got is that there’s a teaching monastery called Thadu Kyaung-daik, in Kyimyindine township. A donor came and donated electric saws. Monks were clearing up the roads using them. I saw them with my own eyes around 4 o’clock near Bah-gaya Valley. There were about 40 or 50 monks. They were clearing the roads. That’s the situation. I just want you to know that. People are clearing their own roads.

Interviewer: Has the government started to help?
Man I: Nothing yet. There’s no help. One moment please.

Interviewer: Yes.

Man II: I’ll tell you about water distribution. A fire truck came to a house in Maha Zaya Road, [Yay-gyaw? -- name unclear] ward, Bazundaung township, in Rangoon and delivered water. Other people didn’t get it. Only that house got it. We don’t know who lives there. Everyone saw that and people were hoping it would distribute water to those in the ward. That fire truck gave water only to that house. Everyone was puzzled that that it gave water to that house only. Even though they are saying that they’re distributing water, this is what took place in Maha Zay-yar Road, [Yay-gyaw? name unclear] ward.

Interviewer: Are there other places with similar incident?

Man II: I heard about other places but I saw this one with my own eyes. I saw it myself. I even have a photograph. Too bad I cannot upload it. I would like to spread this information on the internet. Yesterday, in Kaw-hmoo, in Kungyan-gone area, people came to visit prisoners. In those places, when the roof got blown away by the wind, rice grains were also blown away. Only the husks were left in that entire village. That happened in all the villages in that area. The rice grains opened and the seeds got blown away in the wind. As a result, the price of rice has become high in Rangoon. We can’t buy rice in Rangoon. No one has it. In the streams and canals in those areas, there are corpses of families, corpses of cows and pigs just floating. No one is cleaning them up- until now. There are families that came up for a prison visit here yesterday, and they had seen these things and they told us. We cannot get in touch with people from there. We can’t telephone them either.