Burma death tolls rises to 15,000

Shipments of emergency aid are now on their way after the country's military authorities said they'd accept international help.

Five Burmese regions, including the main city Rangoon, have been declared disaster zones after being hit by 120mph winds.

The UN says several hundred thousand people need shelter and water, and food and fuel prices have soared.

Burmese state television was showing the clean-up in Rangoon. But in a country as secretive as Burma, the true impact of this disaster will take time to emerge.

After meeting with representatives from international aid bodies this afternoon, the junta that has run Burma since 1962 finally agreed to accept international aid. Tomorrow the emergency operation begins.

24 million people live in the five provinces in the south west of Burma, now declared disaster zones. Two million may be homeless. The rest now face black-outs, water shortage, and rocketing food and fuel prices. It's feared one million people could be homeless.

The flat, low-lying Irrawaddy delta has suffered the worst of the destruction - bamboo houses blown away and low land flooded. This is also where most of Burma's rice comes from.

On state TV the government is making a good show of its concern, applying military know-how to the clean up.

Relief agencies are now trying to secure emergency supplies of the food, water and plastic sheeting thousands will need to survive.

Controlling those supplies is now a key challenge for the regime, if they want to prevent protests like those that shook Burma in September.

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