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GENEVA - The World Meteorological Organisation said on Wednesday that Myanmar had issued warnings ahead of the devastating cyclone, but could not confirm whether they reached the population.
The WMO also said it is unclear if Myanmar has contingency plans to deal with natural disasters - such as the one which has left 22,000 dead - and that it will send a team to help the country develop such emergency procedures.
Fast Facts
The WMO said its permanent representative in Myanmar - who is also a government official in charge of Myanmar's meteorological department - told its headquarters that warnings had been issued when he was reached by phone earlier Wednesday.
Myanmar was acting on information received about the impending storm from partners including the Indian authorities, which issued accurate warnings as frequently as every three hours, said the WMO.
WMO Director for Weather and Disaster Risk Reduction Activities Department Dieter Schiessl said: "We have relatively good confirmation now that information was amply available and timely provided, and distributed in the ways and means for reaching the general public, farmers, fishermen and so on.
"From the perspective of WMO, we have no first hand information how this information was used by these particularly targeted groups, and what really reached individuals in the country itself," he told journalists.
Schiessl said WMO managed to contact U Tun Lwin, the WMO permanent representative in Myanmar as well as director general of Myanmar's meteorological department, on Wednesday.
Lwin confirmed that based on information provided by partners, including the New Delhi office of the India Meteorological Department, his department had acted to inform the authorities as early as April 29.
A press briefing was given to the national media on May 1, and information on the cyclone was in the newspapers on May 2, the day when the cyclone arrived, Lwin said.
But Schiessl said the he could not confirm if any action was taken by Myanmar to move people to safety.
"We cannot from our current situation... draw any conclusions whether something was adequately done in the country. This needs to be assessed. This
can only be conclusively seen in the future," he said.
He said, however, that in such "rural areas with undeveloped infrastructure", there are "significant challenges" to implementing any evacuation.
Schiessl said a cyclone hits Myanmar once every 40 years, and being an infrequent disaster, "governments have no incentives to prepare themselves
thoroughly".
The WMO will send a team to assess the situation in the country and to help it develop an appropriate plan for "preparedness and prevention", so that warnings could be used to the maximum effect in the future, said Schiessl.
Indian meteorologists said they had given neighbouring Myanmar 48 hours' warning before Cyclone Nagris slammed into the country.
The United States has also alleged that Myanmar's military government failed to warn its citizens of the impending storm. - AFP/al
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