Nasa satellite photos show the stricken area of Myanmar before and after Cyclone Nargis. On April 15, rivers and lakes are sharply defined against a backdrop of vegetation and fallow land. The Irrawaddy flows south through the left-hand side, splitting into tributaries to form the deep blue-green wetlands near the shore.

On May 5, the entire coastal plain is flooded. A 30,000-sq-km area, about 11/2 times the size of Johor, was damaged by the storm.