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BANGKOK - The US relief agency on Thursday sought to reassure Myanmar that a new cyclone was "highly unlikely", after reports that a tropical depression could be forming near the storm-stricken nation.
The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center had reported the possible formation of another cyclone near Yangon, worrying UN aid coordinators who are struggling to provide food and water to some two million cyclone survivors.
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"The tropical cyclone formation alert that was issued by the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center on May 13 has significantly weakened," USAID said in a statement released Thursday.
"Potential development of a significant tropical cyclone in the region is currently highly unlikely. However, continued rains in the affected area and upstream river systems are likely to lead to prolonged flooding."
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said on its website that infra-red and satellite imaging showed the storm weakening.
"The potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours is downgraded to poor," it said.
Even without a new cyclone, aid groups have said that heavy rains are hampering an already difficult relief operation in the delta region, where the storm swept through on May 2 and 3 leaving about 66,000 people dead or missing.
"They can't get through another storm without shelter," said Save the Children spokeswoman Kathryn Rawe.
"Half the people displaced aren't in actual buildings. They're basically under plastic, and it's raining. It breaks your heart." - AFP/ir
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