Myanmar:Dead are thrown into rivers as the living wait for aid

Dead are thrown into rivers as the living wait for aid
Story Highlights
Southern town is decimated by cyclone, with few homes remaining

Victims' bodies are thrown into area's rivers as the living wait for help

Rice supplies likely to last for only five days after storm destroyed mills

Monasteries being used to shelter homeless, monks try to treat injured

By Dan Rivers
CNN


BOGALAY, Myanmar (CNN) -- Homeless children watched Tuesday as solemn men unceremoniously dropped dead bodies into the river of this southern Myanmar township.


The funeral-like procession to the river was one of the many disturbing images of the destruction left by Myanmar's deadly cyclone.

The cyclone's devastation could be seen everywhere in Bogalay. The estimated 240 km/hr (150mph) winds spared only four of the 369 homes in a village here.

The nationwide death toll was estimated by state run media and opposition sources at more than 22,000.

Almost half of the total death toll could have come from Bogalay, according to an estimate by China's state run news agency Xinhua. Many of the survivors have been left with nothing.

They sat in roofless homes, parasols their only protection from the rain that continued to fall. Watch family huddle in ruined home »

One family who sat in the remains of their home -- shreds of the roof and walls littered the floor -- said they only had enough food to last a couple of days. We could see their meager supply of eggs and rice.


New supplies will be hard to come by after the storm destroyed the area's mills, leaving only about a five-day supply of usable rice, locals said. Water pumps were also ruined, and fuel is scarce.

Monasteries were being used as temporary shelters for hundreds of people left homeless. At one there were about 600 people sleeping where they could.

Many had lost someone they loved. Some sat with bleak, numb stares as small piles of food were guarded by young apprentice monks.

The monks said they have food for two days. After that, they say, they have no answer.

Another monastery was called an operating theater, but there were no medical supplies. One man sat with open wounds, blood running down his back.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/06/danrivers.myanmar/index.html

I am working on a new video on the other causes of PTSD besides war. PTSD comes from trauma. From cyclones/hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides and earth quakes, fires and accidents. The list goes on. No matter if the event is caused by man or nature, the results are people left in shock and suffering from the traumatic wounds that some will never overcome. PTSD is a human wound. I'm hesitant to call it illness because it does not come from choices we make or people we come into contact with as much as it does the trauma we come into contact with. We need to see PTSD from all humanity if we are ever going to eliminate the stigma fully. That is one of the biggest reasons why I post on the other causes of PTSD. If we understand how simple humans can be stuck by it, then why can't we understand the men and women in the military developing deeper PTSD because they are exposed to trauma over and over again?