Giovanni Caroccia, left, and Guido De Campo, civilians who work for the 405th Army Field Support Brigade, based at Camp Darby in Livorno, Italy, prepare USAID materials for transport to Myanmar’s cyclone victims. (Courtesy of Joyce Costello / U.S. Army)
Some of the aid being sent to victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar is coming from a U.S. Army warehouse in northern Italy.
When the cyclone hit on May 2, U.S. Agency for International Development officials called on the 3rd Battalion, 405th Army Field Support Brigade at Camp Darby in Livorno, Italy.
Although Italy is about 5,000 miles from Myanmar, Camp Darby is used to store, stage and send supplies provided by USAID in response to global crises, according to Army officials.
Last year, the base sent relief supplies to help battle wildfires that burned across large parts of Greece and sent aid to the Darfur region in Sudan. This time around, the brigade boxed up 3,200 rolls of plastic sheeting, 46,800 10-liter collapsible water containers, 3,000 5-gallon collapsible water containers and four water treatment units.
"We’re experts in pre-positioned materiel management, and USAID needs the ability to react rapidly to crises," said Alberto Chidini, the brigade’s supply director.
The services provided to USAID are "on a reimbursable basis," paid for by the State Department.
So far, U.S. funding for Myanmar exceeds $35 million dollars, according to USAID. The agency uses the money, $7.8 million of which has also come from the Department of Defense, to fund United Nations and other nongovernmental aid agencies allowed to bring aid into Myanmar.
In late May, the brigade transported supplies in 20 truckloads to commercial airports in Milan, Italy; Brussels, Belgium; and Marseilles, France. The supplies were then loaded onto commercial aircraft and flown to Thailand.
USAID did not immediately reply to confirm the aid actually reached cyclone victims in Myanmar once it arrived in Thailand.
Getting aid into Myanmar has been hampered by the country’s refusal to grant access to many government aid agencies looking to help the more than 2 million people affected by the cyclone, mostly in the Irrawaddy delta. The U.N. estimates almost 80,000 were killed in the disaster, with the death toll still rising, and 56,000 reported missing.
Last week, four U.S. Navy ships loaded with relief supplies finally left the waters around Myanmar without delivering any aid to cyclone victims. The government of Myanmar has refused to allow foreign military aid into the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
