Prices go skyward as more rain falls

The monsoon season, when heavy rain comes almost every day, is due to start in two to three weeks. Most homes left standing by the cyclone lost some or all of their roofs in the storm that hit late Friday and lasted long into Saturday. Planting is supposed to take place by late May in the delta for the September harvest, but about 2,000 square miles remain under water.

In central Yangon, building supply merchants have raised the price for corrugated iron sheets to $30 from $4, forcing many to take hundreds of dollars from meager savings just to stay dry.

Knowing that new roofing isn't much good without hook-topped nails to secure it, shops are charging an even higher markup, complained a local resident.

"The blood-sucking businesspeople are crazy," he said. "Sometimes people go to get some and the seller says, 'That's $30.' Then people reply, 'I have this much. Either you take my money or you take my knife.' "

Drivers desperate for gasoline have a choice: sit for hours in lineups of cars that run for blocks, hoping to eventually get a few gallons at the official price, or pay more than double for quicker service on the black market. The shortages and escalating prices are piling new pressure on the government, less than a year after its decision to end fuel subsidies doubled the price of gas and sparked the worst unrest here in almost 20 years.

The United Nations says at least 31 people were killed during the military regime's violent crackdown against what began as peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks. Some of the 3,000 people detained remain in prison, according to opposition sources in Myanmar and in exile.

Anger is building again at an especially sensitive time for the government as it prepares for the referendum scheduled Saturday. Even before the cyclone struck, the military rulers had tightened already severe visa restrictions, limiting access to foreigners in the final run-up to election day. The regime is pressing ahead with the referendum as planned in most of the country, but after some hesitation postponed it in areas devastated by the storm, including Yangon.

Some foreign aid began to trickle into the country by air Thursday. But many government and assistance groups continued to wait for permission to enter, and Myanmar's regime has just four helicopters delivering emergency relief to an enormous disaster zone that is difficult to reach in the best of times, according to the businessman organizing the private relief operation.