Cyclone Nargis the USAID DART stationed in Thailand. On 15 May, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) launched the Burmese HIC website. The purpose of the site was to improve information exchange and collaboration between operational agencies responding to Cyclone Nargis. Based in Bangkok, the HIC was providing support to the Humanitarian Partnership Team and other humanitarian partners in Yangon, as well as those based in Bangkok. By 8 May 2008, the Foundation for the People of Burma had a team on the ground in Rangoon and beyond providing direct assistance to thousands of refugees. Since this
2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season with a storm surge. Approximately 800,000 homes were severely damaged or destroyed and infrastructure was devastated. An estimated 138,373 people lost their lives and damage reached 11.7 trillion Burmese kyat (US$12.9 billion). Nargis is regarded as the worst disaster in the nation's history as well as the fourth-deadliest tropical cyclone on record. Other storms throughout the season caused significant damage in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Yemen. A depression in October was responsible for 180 deaths and US$1 billion in damage across Yemen. Overall, approximately 138,927 people were killed and losses totaled $14.7 billion (2008 USD). In late April, the