May 9, 2008, BANGKOK: May 9, 2008: When Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, it pushed a wall of water through the Irrawaddy Delta, a low-lying, densely populated area that had been stripped of its protective trees.The delta had lost most of its mangrove forests along the coast to shrimp farms and rice paddies over the past decade. That removed what scientists say is one of nature's best defenses against violent storms.
It was the first time such an intense storm hit the delta, said Jeff Masters, director of meteorology at the Web site Weather Underground. He called it "one of those once-in-every-500-years kind of things." More>>>
