At least 351 people were killed and nearly 100,000 left homeless when tropical cyclone Nargis tore through Myanmar, razing thousands of buildings and smashing up streets, officials said Sunday. Residents awoke Sunday to scenes of devastation after the cyclone bore through swathes of southern Myanmar late Friday and Saturday, uprooting trees, razing buildings and ripping up power lines. “According to the latest information we have, altogether 19 people were killed in Yangon division and then about 222 people killed in Ayeyawaddy division,” an information ministry official said. State-run television said the toll includes 109 who lived on Haing Gyi island off the country's southwest coast. The authorities have declared disaster zones in the five states and the regions of Yangon, Ayeyawaddy, Bago, Mon and Karen. State television channel MRTV reported that about 20,000 houses have been destroyed on Haing Gyi island, just off the coast of Ayeyawaddy division where the storm first hit, and 92,706 people there were now homeless.
