According to news reports more deaths were caused by a tidal wave than the storm itself. The wave was up to 3.5 metres high and swept away houses in low-lying villages. As many as 10,000 people died in one coastal town alone. The spread of disease is an immediate threat as hundreds of thousands of people struggle to cope with living in camps, schools, monasteries and in damaged homes without enough food and in unsanitary conditions. World Vision has over 580 staff on the ground in Myanmar and has begun distributing emergency relief items including food, water and non-food items. World Vision is planning to distribute aid to 250,000 people in the initial phase of response. Assessment teams have also been deployed to the hardest-hit areas to determine critical needs. Supplies housed in World Vision’s Dubai warehouse facility are ready to be dispatched via an airlift to Myanmar. Stock ready to go includes 25,000 blankets, mosquito nets, tarpaulins, water containers, and tents in addition to 20 water purification units and tents to set up child friendly spaces. According to World Vision’s regional HIV/AIDS advisor, Dr Kyi Minn "The situation is worse than the tsunami. From the TV pictures shot from the helicopters you can see piles of dead bodies." Cyclone Nargis is the most devastating cyclone to hit Asia since 1991, when 143,000 people died in Bangladesh. World Vision has been working in Myanmar for 30 years.