Saving Burma

1 minute read
By TIME

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the junta is blocking the flow of aid. Is there a case for direct action?Photographs for TIME by Prashant Panjiar / Livewire Images

Storm Clouds

Cyclone Nargis swept across Burma's Irrawaddy Delta on May 2nd, flooding fields and shattering homes.

Swamped

A boat passes a destroyed home near Kawmu.

Adrift

This boat was tossed ashore by the storm.

Hotel Zone

The hotels in Burma's new capital, Naypyidaw, are out of reach for most Burmese.

Shrine

The new Shwedagon pagoda is under construction in Naypitaw.

Landscaped

Workers build a wall near the new Shwedagon pagoda in Naypyidaw.

Road to riches

A crosswalk on a road near one of Naypyidaw's golf courses gets a new coat of paint.

Pleasantville

Government housing blocks rise out of the jungle in Naypyidaw, where the junta has set up its remote new capital.

Homeless

The storm destroyed hundreds of thousands of dwellings.

Recovery

A rice mill in a village near Kawhmu. Nargis cut through Burma's agricultural heartland, destroying the harvest.

Last house standing

The storm swallowed this village near Kawhmu.

Collapse

The cyclone has left at least one million people without power, food or shelter.

High and dry

A woman collects water from a tanker.

The earth is flat

Residents pick through debris in Kyaiklat, a town that lost nearly all its buildings to Cyclone Nargis.Pr

Flattened

The remains of a building lie in Tan Man village, near Bogalay.

Waiting

Few Burmese believe the ruling junta will deliver on promises of aid.

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