London  - International aid organizations working in Myanmar Tuesday compared the scale of the cyclone to the suffering caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Hundreds of thousands of people had been left without shelter or clean drinking water, charities said.

"People are saying this is worse than the (December 26, 2004, Asian) Tsunami. It's like a war zone. The number of dead is just staggering," James East, of the charity World Vision, said.

East, speaking to Britain's GMTV station from Bangkok, Thailand, said: "Water is running out. The government has asked us to supply water purification tablets and units. We want to do that as soon as possible. The children are the most vulnerable."

Aid group Save the Children said it was set to hand out two metric tons of food and affected in the largest city, Yangon.

Reports said the Red Cross had already begun distributing water purification tablets and mosquito nets, and was preparing to hand out emergency shelters in the worst-hit areas.

Meanwhile, the British government said it was preparing an "appropriate response" at international level amid indications that the military regime in Yangon was ready to accept foreign aid.

"We are monitoring the situation very closely and, following an indication that Burma is ready to accept international aid, are working with the UN and other bodies to draw up a detailed assessment and consider an appropriate response," a spokesman for the Department for International Development said. (dpa)