News Brief21:25 PM

(IsraelNN.com) Twenty-three year old Maayan Kalu, who went missing in Myanmar (Burma) following a devastating cyclone, contacted his family on Thursday.  Kalu sent an email to his family informing them that he was in good health, and had been unable to contact them earlier because communications networks in the area were down.

Twenty-six year old Amit Efrati, who was also declared missing, contacted his family earlier in the day.  Eight other Israeli citizens who were in Myanmar during the cyclone contacted the Foreign Ministry to report that they are alive and well.  Foreign Ministry officials say that all Israeli citizens in the country have now been accounted for.

The cyclone killed at least 23,000 people, and left more than 40,000 missing.  Rescue workers fear that a shortage of potable water and mass homelessness could lead to disease, causing death tolls to rise.  In addition, the storm caused severe damage to several of Myanmar’s more fertile areas, leading experts to predict food shortages that could last for the next two years.