Torrential tropical downpours lashed Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta on Friday, deepening the misery of an estimated 2.5 million destitute survivors of Cyclone Nargis and further hampering the military government's aid efforts.
Since the storm on 3 May, supplies of aid including medicine and food have been sent in dribs and drabs because the junta has kept tight restrictions on foreign aid workers and equipment.
ndow in search of bits of bread or a T-shirt.

Officials say 92% of the ballots cast supported a document that critics say is a sham meant to strengthen the military regime.
From a Times Staff Writer
he referendum results appeared to be greeted with quiet resignation in rain-soaked Yangon, also known as Rangoon.

KUNGYANGON, Myanmar, May 16 (Reuters) - The rows of beggars on either side of the road stretched for miles, twin columns of human misery left by the winds and waves of Cyclone Nargis.
Without clothes or shoes, the thousands of men, women and children made destitute by the cyclone could only stand in the mud and rain of the latest tropical downpour, their hands clasped together in supplication at the occasional passing aid vehicle.
. There weren't this many desperate people when we were last here," one relief volunteer said.

By Michael Heath May 16 (Bloomberg) -- As many as 500000 children are in need of aid in Myanmar after Tropical Cyclone Nargis hit the country two weeks ago,

INSIDE MYANMAR - Devastation and despair is widespread in regions of Myanmar flattened by cyclone Nargis on May 3, a Global National reporter inside the country reported Thursday.
She is the only Western journalist in the southeast Asian country, also known as Burma. Her name is being withheld as a precaution against retribution by the nation's military regime.
community are difficult," Louis Michel told Reuters. "But that is not my problem.

By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Western powers kept up the pressure on Myanmar's generals on Thursday to allow a massive aid effort as relief workers struggled to help an estimated 2.5 million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis.
The European Union's top aid official has warned that the military government's restrictions on foreign aid workers and equipment were increasing the risk of starvation and disease in the country formerly known as Burma.
, and has called for a high-level donors conference to deal with the crisis.

By Bruce Wallace and Maggie Farley Myanmar children reach out to receive a free banana Wednesday from a local donor on the outskirts of Yangon.