Cyclone Giri center of Giri as it degenerated into a tropical depression. The final advisory from the IMD was issued later that day as the system weakened further. Shortly after Giri was classified a very severe cyclonic storm, warnings were issued for the coastline of Myanmar. Relative to the storm's intensity, preparations were minimal; however, this was because forecasters did not anticipate Giri to strengthen as quickly as it did. The greatest fear of the residents was the aftermath of the storm. There were concerns that the cyclone could cause devastation similar to that of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 which killed
Politics of Myanmar the 22 million voters with alleged voter turnout of 99%) on 10 May 2008 in the first phase of a two-stage referendum and Cyclone Nargis. It was the first national vote since the 1990 election. Multi-party elections in 2010 would end 5 decades of military rule, as the new charter gives the military an automatic 25% of seats in parliament. NLD spokesman Nyan Win, inter alia, criticised the referendum: "This referendum was full of cheating and fraud across the country. In some villages, authorities and polling station officials ticked the ballots themselves and did not let the voters do anything".