[1][2] The cyclone made landfall in Myanmar on Friday, 2 May 2008, sending a storm surge 40 kilometres up the densely populated Irrawaddy delta, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,373 fatalities.

[10][11] The first named storm of the 2008 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Nargis developed on 27 April in the central area of Bay of Bengal.

According to reports, Indian authorities had warned Myanmar about the danger that Cyclone Nargis posed 48 hours before it hit the country's coast.

[citation needed] Relief efforts were slowed for political reasons as Myanmar's military rulers initially resisted large-scale international aid.

US President George W. Bush said that an angry world should condemn the way Myanmar's military rulers were handling the aftermath of such a catastrophic cyclone.

[16][17] Over the next couple of days, the disturbance gradually developed further within an area of low vertical wind shear, before it was classified as a depression by the India Meteorological Department early on 27 April.

[16][19] At 0000 UTC, 5:30 AM Indian Standard Time, on 28 April, the IMD upgraded the system to Cyclonic Storm Nargis, while it was located about 550 km (340 mi) east of Chennai, India.

[23] Early on 29 April, the JTWC estimated Nargis reached winds of 160 km/h (100 mph),[24] and at the same time, the IMD classified the system as a very severe cyclonic storm.

[26][27] Subsequently, the cyclone became disorganised and weakened due to subsidence and drier air; as a result, deep convection near the center markedly decreased.

[28] The circulation remained strong despite the diminishing convection, though satellite intensity estimates using the Dvorak technique indicated the cyclone could have weakened to tropical storm status.

[32] Strengthening continued as Nargis developed a well-defined eye with a diameter of 19 km (12 mi), and early on 2 May, the JTWC estimated that the cyclone reached peak 1-minute winds of 215 km/h (135 mph), as it approached the coast of Myanmar, making it a Category 4 storm.

[38] On 27 and 28 April, the cyclone enhanced the South-West Monsoon over Sri Lanka, which resulted in very heavy rain, flooding, and landslides being reported within the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces.

[59] Woradet Wirawekhin (th: วรเดช วีระเวคิน), deputy director general of Thailand's Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated on 7 May 2008 that, in reference to a report submitted by Bansan Bunnak (th: บรรสาน บุนนาค), the Thai ambassador in Yangon, conditions in the city had deteriorated and that most businesses and markets were closed.

[60] On 6 May 2008, the Burmese government representation in New York City formally asked the United Nations for help, but in other ways it remained resistant to the most basic assistance.

[citation needed] According to Thai Rath Newspaper of Thailand on 8 May 2008,[61] in the afternoon (Bangkok time) of 7 May 2008, the Burmese junta permitted Italian flights containing relief supplies from the United Nations, and twenty-five tonnes of consumable goods, to land in Myanmar.

However, many nations and organisations hoped to deliver assistance and relief to Myanmar without delay; most of their officials, supplies and stores were waiting in Thailand and at the Yangon airport, as the Burmese junta declined to issue visas for many of those individuals.

These political tensions raised the concern that some food and medical supplies might become unusable, even before the Burmese junta officially accepted the international relief effort.

[70][71] According to various reports, Indian authorities had warned Burma about the danger that Cyclone Nargis posed 48 hours before it hit the country's coast.

[72] As of 16 May 2008, India's offer to send a team of 50 medical personnel to set up two independent mini-hospitals in the Irrawaddy delta was accepted by the Burmese government.

[74] Italy provided €465,000 (about $732,282) worth of aid in the form of 30 tons of emergency relief equipment, such as stretchers, generators, and water purifiers in a flight organised by the World Food Program (WFP).

Additionally, Chaiya Sasomsap, Minister of Public Health of Thailand, stated that the Government had already sent medical supplies valued more than one billion baht ($31.3 million) to Myanmar.

Also, on 9 May in Bangkok, Richard Horsey, spokesperson of the United Nations, urged Myanmar to accept a full scale international relief effort.

[138] Some critics were even suggesting genocide since the Burmese government had deliberately denied storm victims aid, allowing for hundreds of thousands to potentially die from starvation, exposure, and disease.

The French UN ambassador denied the LHD Mistral[citation needed] was a warship, and claimed Myanmar's refusal to allow increased aid into the country "could lead to a true crime against humanity."

[140] UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown accused the ruling junta of allowing the disaster to grow into a "man-made catastrophe" through its failure to act.

[144] Despite objections raised by the Burmese opposition parties and foreign nations in the wake of the natural disaster, the junta proceeded with a previously scheduled (10 May 2008) constitutional referendum.

[146] On 8 May 2008, about thirty protesters assembled before Myanmar's embassy in Manila, Philippines, demanding that the junta defer voting on the referendum and immediately accept international relief.

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Burmese opposition, also stated that holding a vote for the referendum during this disaster would be a consummately unacceptable act.

[61] About 500 Burmese activists demonstrated on 10 May outside their country's embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, demanding that Burma's military regime call off its constitutional referendum even as voting began despite a devastating cyclone.

The UN called for an air or sea corridor to be opened to channel large amounts of aid,[151] and HMS Westminster was sent to the area, alongside French and United States military assets.