Fergie's Tech Blog

IT Didn't Fail Myanmar During Cyclone, People Did

Dan Nystedt writes on InfoWorld:

The growing disaster in Myanmar caused by Cyclone Nargis could have been at least party avoided had people living in the path of the storm been warned, the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said Thursday.

The storm warning systems and cyclone watch centers in place were all up and running, but the cyclone's path to Myanmar across the Bay of Bengal on the Indian Ocean rim has been left out of the storm warning system, said Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN in a speech in Jakarta on Thursday.

Now, an estimated 100,000 people lay dead in the country and over a million people are homeless.

It's the second time people have failed to avert disaster in Asia despite having the right technology in the right place, he said. The first time was the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. People in Hawaii knew a tsunami was coming ashore, but they did not know who to call, he said.

posted by Fergie @ 5/09/2008 07:06:00 PM