Cyclone Bijli The Department of Relief and Rehabilitation in Bangladesh provided 450 metric tonnes of rice to four districts, 200 of which was sent to Chittagong. To prevent an outbreak of post-storm diseases, the World Health Organization activated 1,105 medical teams in the country. A storm surge of was also expected to impact coastal areas of Myanmar close to the Bangladeshi border. An estimated 6,000 fishing trawlers were to return to port by the afternoon of April 17. Following the devastating results of Cyclone Nargis almost a year prior, officials in Myanmar urged residents along the coast to evacuate. Thousands of residents
Third Force (Myanmar) Cyclone Nargis in 2008 was seen as a watershed for the local non-governmental scene, as youths became more interested in the affairs of the country, in light of failings by the government in the social sectors. As the military regime blocked international aid, local non governmental organisations sprouted to fill in the relief gap, mainly drawn from the youth and educated of the country's largest city, Yangon. These NGOs also stopped short of criticising the junta, deciding that it would only hinder relief operations. Cyclone Nargis coincided with the junta's attempts to push through a constitution which had taken nearly