Cyclone Nargis 2008 in Yangon and other areas hardest hit by the storm. On 8 May 2008, about thirty protesters assembled before Myanmar's embassy in Manila, Philippines, demanding that the junta defer voting on the referendum and immediately accept international relief. The Philippine protesters delivered the statement that "this time is not the time for politics, but it is the time to save people." The United States Government also demanded that the United Nations not endorse the referendum. Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Burmese opposition, also stated that holding a vote for the referendum during this disaster would be a
2011 North Indian Ocean cyclone season killed with many more missing. Officials in the hard-hit town of Pakokku believed that the death toll would exceed 300 as residents searched for missing relatives days after the floods. Similar to what took place in the wake of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, journalists were warned by the Government not to take pictures of the disaster. Overall, it is the deadliest tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean since Cyclone Aila in 2009. Under the influence of a low-level trough, a low-pressure area formed over the Arabian Sea in late October. The system organized and the IMD designated the system