Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that developed in the Bay of Bengal about 360 miles off of the southeast coast of India on April 27, 2008. It gathered strength over the next several days and made landfall in Myanmar (Burma) on May 2, 2008. Landfall occurred in the Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar. The storm tracked northeast, passing close to the former capital city of Yangon. It finally died down near the Burma-Thailand border. Strong winds of over 120 miles per hour, heavy rain, local flooding and a storm surge resulted in a death toll expected to exceed 100,000 with over 2,000,000 people left homeless and without water, power, food or sanitary conditions. It might be the deadliest cyclone of all time. The high death and destruction caused by the storm was only partially due to its intensity. The Irrawaddy Delta area is very flat and only a few feet above sea level. Before the storm it was occupied by thousands of people who tend the many rice farms which are scattered across the delta. When the storm surge swept over the rice farms there was no high ground to find refuge and many farmers drowned. This wiped out the current rice crop and ruined the area where much of the country's food is produced. These things, combined with the government's reluctance to accept immediate foreign aid, resulted in an enormous death toll.

Extracted from: http://geology.com/events/cyclone-nargis/