Indian weather department says it warned Myanmar about cyclone threat

NEW DELHI — An official says India warned Myanmar that Cyclone Nargis was headed for the country two days before it made landfall there.

The state-run Indian Meteorological Department had been keeping a close watch on the depression in the Bay of Bengal since it was first spotted on April 28.

Department spokesman B. P. Yadav says they sent regular updates about its progress to all the countries in its path.

Yadav says that 48 hours in advance, the department informed the Myanmar weather department about the likely area of landfall as well as time and intensity of the cyclone.

The New Delhi-based IMD issues regular cyclone warnings and updates to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Oman and Pakistan, Yadav says.

Saturday's devastating cyclone is believed to have killed at least 22,000 people in Myanmar and left as many as one million homeless. More than 40,000 people are missing.