the IMD. Many houses in the two states were destroyed, and telecommunications were disrupted. Aftermath In the days after the storm, homeless Bangladeshis overcrowded shelters, and many storm victims were unable to find shelter. On the island of Sonodia its inhabitants were suffering from diarrhea from drinking contaminated water, respiratory and urinary infections, scabies and various injuries with only rice for food. Out of the ten wells on the island only 5 were functional of which only one providing pure water with the rest contaminated by sea water. As a result of the 1991 cyclone, Bangladesh improved its warning and shelter systems. Also, the government implemented a reforestation program to mitigate future flooding issues. Operation Sea Angel The United States amphibious task-force, consisting of 15 ships and 2,500 men, returning to the US after the Gulf War was diverted to the Bay of Bengal to provide relief to an estimated 1.7 million survivors. This was part of Operation Sea Angel, one of the largest military disaster relief efforts ever carried out, with the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan and Japan also participating. Operation Sea Angel began on May 10, 1991, when President Bush directed the US military to provide humanitarian assistance. A Contingency Joint Task Force under the command of Lieutenant General Henry C. Stackpole, consisting of over 400 Marines and 3,000 sailors, was subsequently sent to Bangladesh to provide food, water, and medical care to nearly two million people. The efforts of U.S. troops, which included 3,300 tons of supplies, are credited with having saved as many as 200,000 lives. The relief was delivered to the hard-hit coastal areas and low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal by helicopter, boat and amphibious craft. The US military also provided medical and engineering teams to work with their Bangladeshi counterparts and international relief organisation to treat survivors and contain an outbreak of diarrhea, caused by contaminated drinking water. Water purification plants were built and prevalence of diarrhea amongst the population was reduced to lower than pre-cyclone levels. After the departure of the task force, 500 military personnel, two C-130 cargo planes, five Blackhawk helicopters and four small landing craft from the task force remained to help finish off relief operations in outlying districts and rebuild warehouses. The amphibious landing ship (LKA-116) delivered large quantities of intravenous solution from Japan to aid in the treatment of cyclone survivors. See also 1970 Bhola