A volunteer's account

Excerpt translated from YMG's post

The 6 year old girl wouldn't let go of her father's hand. They were among the cyclone refugees taking shelter in a camp in Mawlamyaing Kyun. The cyclone had left them bruised from top to toe. The father, a marine worker, told me:

"We heard about an approaching storm on the radio. To us, it's nothing new; we get storms all the time. So that day, I didn't go out into the sea."

"When the house started to shake, we ran to the coconut trees. I heaved my 2-year old son onto my shoulders, and pushed my two older children up the tree and hugged them tight. Somewhere along the way, I lost my wife. Piece by piece, the wind whipped away our house. The water level rose, it came up to my waist.. with me on the coconut tree."

"As time passed, the sky grew darker. We could hear people's cries for help. My arms were giving way.. my toddler was also holding so tight onto my neck that I could hardly breathe. Next thing I knew, he had fallen off but I couldn't save him. Moments later, my 5 year old son fell off the tree. My daughter was very frightened. She thought I let go of them on purpose. Why would I do that?"

"She told me not to let go of her. I promised her I would not, and I told her over and over again that I didn't mean to let her brothers fall. When the tides receded, we climbed down. I saw my two sons among the debris. My wife was crushed by a fallen coconut tree. I don't know how long I held them and cried.. I only remembered that some of the villagers tried to console me and took the bodies away."

I looked at the little girl and saw her tears. I asked her if she was hungry. She shook her head. She told me she was crying because she missed her brothers.