YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar officials feared today the death toll would climb far higher than the reported 10,000 dead from the Southeast Asian nation's devastating cyclone as the international community prepared to rush in aid.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, state radio reported that the government was delaying a constitutional referendum in areas hit hardest.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted by state-run television as saying that more than 10,000 people had perished in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region while a smaller number died in and around Yangon, the country's largest city.

"News and data are still being collected, so there may be many more casualties," he said.

The World Food Program, which was preparing to fly in food, added its own grim assessment of the destruction: Up to 1 million people may be homeless, some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out.

Images from state television showed large trees and electricity poles sprawled across roads and roofless houses ringed by large sheets of water in the delta region, which is regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.

The television report gave two different numbers — 59 and 130 — for the dead in what is known as Yangon division. It did not explain the differing tolls.

State radio reported Saturday's vote on a draft constitution would be delayed until May 24 in 40 townships around Yangon and seven in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the killer storm.

It indicated that in other areas the balloting would proceed as scheduled.

RARE APPEAL FOR AID

The country's ruling junta, which has spurned the international community for decades, urgently appealed for foreign aid at a meeting Nyan Win held with diplomats yesterday in Yangon. Foreign governments were poised today to rush aid to the devastated nation.

"We hope to fly in more assistance within the next 48 hours," said WFP spokesman Paul Risley in Bangkok, Thailand. "The challenge will be getting to the affected areas with road blockages everywhere."

The appeal came less than a week ahead of a crucial referendum on a military-backed constitution that the ruling junta hoped would go smoothly in its favor, despite opposition from the country's feisty pro-democracy movement and widespread international criticism that it falls far short of democratic benchmarks. However, the disaster could stir the already tense political situation, several analysts said.

A military transport plane was scheduled to land in Yangon later today with emergency aid from Thailand while a number of other countries and organizations said they were prepared to follow.

The United States, which has slapped economic sanctions on the country, said it likewise stood ready. The U.S. Embassy is providing $250,000 in immediate aid from existing emergency funds. But first lady Laura Bush said yesterday the U.S. would provide further aid only if one of its own disaster teams is allowed into the country.

The European Commission was providing $3 million in humanitarian aid, and the president of neighboring China pledged assistance without offering details.

Earlier, Richard Horsey, a spokesman in Bangkok for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the storm has left hundreds of thousands without clean drinking water.

"Our biggest fear is that the aftermath could be more lethal than the storm itself," said Caryl Stern, who heads the U.N. Children's Fund in the United States. UNICEF said it had dispatched five assessment teams to three of the affected areas.

Relief Minister Maj. Gen. Maung Maung Swe said at the meeting with diplomats that the referendum scheduled for Saturday could be postponed by "a few days" in the worst-affected areas, but state media indicated yesterday that the May 10 date was still set.

The diplomats said they were told Myanmar welcomed international aid including urgently needed roofing materials, medicine, water purifying tablets and mosquito nets. The Thais were sending a shipment of 10 tons (9 metric tons) of such supplies.

The appeal for assistance was unusual for Myanmar's ruling generals, who have long been suspicious of the international organizations and have closely controlled their activities.

There was little sign of official efforts to repair the damage in Yangon, but the worst-hit areas were in the countryside, now inaccessible by road because of storm damage.

"The combination of the cyclone and the referendum within a few days of each other makes an angry population angrier and vulnerable and makes the political situation more volatile" than it has been since last year's massive pro-democracy demonstrations, said Monique Skidmore, a Myanmar expert at Australian National University.

At least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the military cracked down on peaceful protests in September led by Buddhist monks and democracy advocates.

GOVERNMENT BLAMED

The government had apparently taken few efforts to prepare for the storm, which came bearing down on the country from the Bay of Bengal late Friday. Weather warnings broadcast on television would have been largely useless for the worst-hit rural areas where electricity supply is spotty and television a rarity.

"The government misled people," said Thin Thin, a grocery story owner in Yangon. "They could have warned us about the severity of the coming cyclone so we could be better prepared."

Yangon was without electricity except where gas-fed generators were available and residents lined up to buy candles, which have doubled in price since the storm hit. Most homes were without water, forcing families to stand in long lines for drinking water and bathe in the city's lakes.

Most telephone landlines appeared to be restored late yesterday, but mobile phones and Internet connections were down.

Some in Yangon complained that the 400,000-strong military was only clearing streets where the ruling elite resided but leaving residents, including Buddhist monks, to cope on their own in most other areas.