May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Survivors of the tropical cyclone that swept across Myanmar nine days ago gathered in camps to wait for emergency supplies as international aid began reaching the hardest-hit areas.

``People are literally still trying to find dry land,'' World Food Program spokesman Marcus Prior said by phone today from Bangkok. ``We are getting aid through, but it is not enough.''

At least two thirds of the 1.5 million people who need help haven't received it and flood waters in the devastated southern Irrawaddy River delta are slowing aid deliveries, the United Nations said. As many as 100,000 people may have been killed by Tropical Cyclone Nargis, UN officials say.

The recovery effort has been stalled for much of the past week as the ruling junta rejected calls to admit relief workers and delayed accepting emergency aid. The military pressed ahead with a referendum on a new constitution over the weekend, ignoring international pleas to delay the vote and focus instead on the humanitarian relief effort.

The junta delayed the referendum in the worst-affected areas until May 24. Opposition groups complained of vote rigging in areas where the ballot went ahead, according to the Irrawaddy, a magazine published by Myanmar dissidents in neighboring Thailand.

Box Ticked

Officials handed out ballot papers with the ``yes'' box already ticked, or watched people fill out their forms and advised them how to vote, Irrawaddy reported on its Web site. The junta refused to allow UN observers to monitor the vote, saying the referendum is an internal matter.

The military, which has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962, says approval of the charter will pave the way for democratic elections in 2010. The U.S. State Department says the constitution aims to prolong the reign of the junta.

Parts of the country are still cut off and helicopters have dropped aid, Soe Tha, the junta's minister for economic development, said late yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported, citing state media.

Local aid organizations, not international agencies, will supervise the relief effort, he said, according to the report.

U.S. Aid

A U.S. military cargo plane packed with supplies touched down today, and Myanmar has cleared two more to land tomorrow, AFP said. The junta is considering opening the border to Thailand to allow trucks loaded with construction materials to enter, Thai government spokesman Wichianchote Sukchotrat told reporters in Bangkok.

European Union development ministers are scheduled to meet tomorrow in Brussels to ``beef up'' the EU's humanitarian response, Louis Michel, commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, said in a statement.

Michel said he intends to travel to Myanmar immediately after the meeting and meet with junta officials to ``discuss the best way forward to bringing international assistance to the affected population.''

The first of three cargo planes sent by Doctors Without Borders landed in the former capital, Yangon, today, the aid group said. The agency has about 100 workers in the delta region and has reached more than 50,000 people with supplies of water, food and other relief, it said in a statement.

Myanmar has been under international sanctions since the military overturned 1990 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

The Bush administration imposed new restrictions last year, freezing junta officials' assets and blacklisting companies linked to them, after a military crackdown on the biggest anti- government demonstrations in almost 20 years. The crackdown left at least 31 people dead, according to the UN.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 12, 2008 09:48 EDT