They dodged bloated corpses of buffaloes and dead neighbours floating in the murky waters - a journey from horror to misery for most, who described desperate hours clinging to trees and debris, followed by days of waiting for aid to arrive.

"Aid still hasn't arrived," said 38-year-old Khin Khin Mya. "My mother, children and husband got separated ... Every day I wait for the rescue boats, hoping to see them at the jetty."

Many survivors were shaking and had trouble telling their tales. Some were angry, but only a few were willing to give their names, fearful of retribution by the military government even in their state.

Hundreds of people were taking shelter at the Aung Daw Mu temple, where the monks were seen making places for newcomers to sleep and drying out blankets as children scurried about.

A private charity group, the Free Funeral Service Society, had set up a couple of big woks nearby to cook for survivors.

Many survivors are still waiting for aid to arrive [AFP]

The town hospital was devoid of first aid supplies, medicine or equipment, and no doctors were in sight. Desperate relatives tended to the injured with rusty sewing needles and thread.

Richard Horsey, the Thailand-based spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aid, said "basically the entire lower delta region is under water".

Patrick McCormic, a spokesman for Unicef, the UN Children's Fund, in New York said its staff in Myanmar were reporting seeing many people huddled in rough shelters and children who had lost their parents.