Cyclone Nargis Cyclone Nargis posed 48 hours before it hit the country's coast. Relief efforts were slowed for political reasons as Myanmar's military rulers initially resisted large-scale international aid. US President George W. Bush said that an angry world should condemn the way Myanmar's military rulers were handling the aftermath of such a catastrophic cyclone. Myanmar's military junta finally accepted aid a few days after India's request was accepted. Hampering the relief efforts, only ten days after the cyclone, nearby central China was hit by a massive earthquake, known as the Sichuan earthquake which measured 7.9 in magnitude and it alone had
Diamond Island (Myanmar) In recent years the loss of mangroves has reduced turtle nesting sites. Cyclone Nargis, 2–3 May 2008, also damaged turtle nests and nesting sites. In 1801 the British merchant ship "Mermaid" wrecked on a rock some miles from the island. On 7 November 1808 the East Indiaman did so also. A communications station, now closed, was established there. The station in 1908 was in radio contact with the Andaman Islands and had a telegraph connection to Bassein (now Pathein). During World War II, in January 1942 the river steamer evacuated the British radio operators on the island. On 6 March