Cyclone Nargis had all the makings of a perfect storm (AP)

A Myanmar woman prays inside the Aung Zey Yong Pagoda and monastery which was damaged in last weekend's devastating cyclone, in Kyauktan Township, southern Myanmar on Thursday May 8, 2008. Myanmar's isolationist regime Thursday gave clearance for the first major international airlift carrying aid to survivors of the cyclone that may have killed more than 100,000 people, officials said. (AP Photo) AP - A cyclone with winds up to 120 mph. A low-lying, densely populated delta region, stripped of its protective trees.