AP

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May 7, 2008 —

YANGON, Myanmar – The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 yesterday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries mobilized to rush in aid, state radio reported.

Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated, and vast rice-growing areas have been wiped out, the World Food Program said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Devastation In Myanmar

Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads, and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar’s rice bowl.

“From the reports we are getting, entire villages have been flattened and the final death toll may be huge,” said Mac Pieczowski, who heads the International Organization for Migration office in Yangon.

Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wielding axes joined Yangon residents yesterday in clearing roads of ancient, fallen trees up to 15 feet in diameter that were once the city’s pride. And soldiers were out on the streets in large numbers for the first time since the cyclone hit.

President Bush called on Myanmar’s military junta to allow the United States to help. The White House said the United States will send more than $3 million to help cyclone victims, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.

“We’re prepared to move US Navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation,” Bush said. “But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country.”

Myanmar’s military regime has signaled it will welcome aid supplies, the United Nations said.

The appeal for assistance was unusual for Myanmar’s generals, who have long been suspicious of international organizations. Several agencies, including the International Red Cross, have limited their presence as a consequence.

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