AP PHOTO In this photo released by AmeriCares, packages of medical supplies are seen in a Stamford, Conn. warehouse, Wednesday, May 7, 2008. AmeriCares is working with the United Nations to get the supplies into Myanmar to provide relief for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis, which slammed into the country's western coast on Saturday. Visas are pending. AmeriCares is an international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs and ongoing humanitarian assistance.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — In the days since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar, Eh Taw Dwe has heard only snippets about the villages he left behind when he fled the country.


Zin Moe has lived with the anguish of not knowing whether his mother and five siblings are alive — and not being able to help directly.


They are among thousands of Burmese immigrants around the United States who are desperately scrambling to organize relief to their ravaged homeland. In the process, they are hearing about a bleak situation: No electricity. Dirty water. Rampant diarrhea and malaria.


"Some people here, they have their family member over there, and they lose their family member or their house was totally destroyed," Dwe said Wednesday. One of Dwe's friends is stranded with his family in a village that was cut off from rescue workers. Nobody knows the family's fate.