'The situation is very tense'

It has been raining now for almost 48 hours. The first really hard rains of the monsoon. The town is ankle-deep in water. People are camping on the pavements with the smallest amounts of plastic for shelter. At the football ground a large camp has been set up, with family-sized tents. The field is gradually becoming inundated with water. People are walking around in the mud in their bare feet.

The Maung family are 13 in one tent with the water gradually seeping inside. They got to Laputta four days after the storm, after walking for a day, from the village of Yway Grop.

"Every house in the village was destroyed," said Maung Win, the grandfather. "When the storm came we were sheltering in the monastery. The wave that came from the sea went right over our house, at least 18ft high. We couldn't count the number of people who died there were so many. Sixteen people from our family died, including my son, who was the breadwinner. In the camp we have food and water, but this shelter is very poor. We don't feel safe here."

In another tent was the Tun family, with 15 people. It took them five hours to reach Laputta by boat from the village of Amatkalay. Semawig Tun was heavily pregnant. "I think I will give birth in about 10 days. I am worried. I was all ready for the birth in my village, but now I don't know what to do. After the storm there were 160 people missing out of a total of 780. We think they are all dead."

Shortly after I met this family, some men left their tent carrying an old man on a stretcher. He had fallen unconscious, and they were taking him to the doctor. An attendant from Merlin's clinic got the man back into the tent and went on his motorbike to bring a doctor. They lay the grandfather on a mattress with a blanket over him. He was gasping for air.

After 10 minutes two doctors arrived. Dr Ye Hein Naing checked his blood pressure and gave him a heart massage. But it was too late. The grandfather had died.

"It's very hard to tell the cause of death in these conditions," said Ye. "I think he could have had a pre-existing medical condition. What he has gone through in the past week is more than he could endure." We left the tent quietly. Members of the family were weeping.

Ye returned to the clinic, where he continued to see other patients. A man of 40 named Thein Chit had a bad limp and swelling on his knee from where he had been hit by a tree. Ye dressed the wound and gave him paracetamol. "The wound wasn't serious and will heal quite soon," said Ye. "But he needs help. He is very traumatised."

The clinic has seen about 50 people a day over the past four days. Today the team is setting up clinics at three other sites in Laputta. Latrines are being built for people at the football camp, and there are 27 safe water distribution points around the town. Five hundred hygiene kits have been distributed and 20,000 more will arrive in the next few days.

Our main supply of drugs and medical equipment is due to arrive on Thursday. Until then we have basic stocks for first aid and we are expecting some extra supplies that have been sourced in country. Other members of the team are attempting to get out of the town to help people in the surrounding villages.

There is virtually total destruction and bodies are still lying in the water and hanging in the trees. The situation is very tense. One village leader was killed a couple of days ago (his head was cut off) when he returned to the village without bringing more food for people. There are many other really horrible pieces of information being received about the situation in the delta villages.

Jonathan Pearce is an aid worker with British medical agency Merlin in Laputta

Source: Guardian