THILAWA, Myanmar — While Myanmar's military regime yesterday restricted the rush of international aid offered to help hungry and homeless cyclone survivors, the government was exporting tons of rice through its main port.

Four of Thilawa port's five berths for oceangoing container vessels were empty, but a crane was loading large white sacks into the hold of a freighter. The sacks were filled with rice destined for Bangladesh, according to the drivers of at least 10 transport trucks waiting to deliver several tons more rice to the docks.

However, the military junta finally agreed yesterday to allow a U.S. cargo plane to bring in food and other supplies to the isolated country. Myanmar gave the green light after confiscating other shipments, prompting the U.N. to order a temporary freeze in shipments.

The U.N. agreed to resume flights but relief workers, including Americans, were still being barred entry.

The junta has a monopoly on rice exports and said this week that it plans to meet commitments to sell rice, which has reached record-high prices on the world market, to countries including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka even though Myanmar's main rice-producing region suffered the worst cyclone damage.

Cyclone Nargis caused massive destruction in the Irrawaddy River delta, where farmers are now desperate for food.

Yet as rice was loaded onto a freighter for export at Thilawa port, cyclone survivors in nearby villages said authorities had handed out rations of rotting rice, apparently from ruined stocks in the port's massive warehouse.

The storm soaked approximately 40 percent of the stored rice supplies worth millions of dollars, according to the chief driver, who did not want to be named to avoid problems with government officials.

With phone lines down, roads blocked and electricity networks destroyed, it was nearly impossible to reach isolated areas in the swamped Irrawaddy delta, where the stench of unburied and decaying bodies added to the misery.

Heavy rain that is forecast in the next week is certain to worsen the plight of almost 2 million people awaiting food, clean water, shelter and medicine.

Diplomats and aid groups warned that the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illness and said thousands of children may have been orphaned.

The government also ignored international appeals to postpone a referendum on a controversial proposed constitution. Nationwide voting began today except in the hardest-hit areas, where it was being delayed two weeks. Critics have labeled the vote a foregone conclusion, saying the rules favor the junta.

Despite the uncertainties, the chief U.N. relief official, John Holmes, appealed to member nations at a meeting in New York yesterday to provide more than $187 million to fund U.N. relief operations likely to last many months.

ALMOST NO RELIEF AID

The wind pummeled Thilawa port so hard that it toppled one of at least three multi-ton gantry container cranes. The 10-story behemoth lay crippled on its side yesterday.

Before the storm, countries including India, Vietnam, China and Cambodia curbed rice exports this year to ensure adequate supplies for their own people amid a mounting world food crisis.

Kyaw Win, 31, head of the village of Thamalone, swore at the mention of the junta. And as he stood among broken wood planks, woven bamboo and thatch that were his neighbors' homes, he began to cry.

The village is only 15 miles from Myanmar's commercial center, Yangon. It's easy to reach by road, and close to the country's best seaport. But the only relief aid came from a private charity, the Free Funeral Service Association.

Headed by movie star and opposition supporter Kyaw Thu, the association normally provides coffins so the poor can get a proper burial. But the charity's pickup trucks and volunteer workers have been among the main lifelines in the disaster zone.

They delivered two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, of rice to many families Wednesday. They promised to return in a few days with more. The villagers say they saw cartons of instant noodles unloaded at a government office, and claim officials kept them for themselves.

The only help the villagers received from the government was half a pound of rotting rice, they said, and the absurdity made them laugh.

Local residents said they were used to the military, which has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962. The ruling generals are notorious for lining their pockets by selling gems and timber through state-controlled companies while ordinary people struggle to survive in one of Asia's poorest countries.

The White House announced that it had received approval from Myanmar to land a military C-130 cargo plane loaded with relief supplies on Monday. But Myanmar has not approved additional flights and has not agreed to let U.S. relief assistance teams enter the country.

HEALTH DISASTER NEAR

Officials have said only one out of 10 people who are homeless, injured or threatened by disease and hunger has received some kind of aid in the week since the cyclone hit.

"Nearly all homes were destroyed in the villages I assessed today and the survivors have virtually no access to clean drinking water," said Gordon Bacon, the International Rescue Committee's emergency coordinator in Yangon. "With each passing day, we come closer to a massive health disaster and a second wave of deaths that is potentially larger than the first."

The government, which wants full control of relief operations, has fewer than 40 helicopters, most of them small or old. It also has only about 15 transport planes, primarily small jets unable to carry hundreds of tons of supplies.

"Not only don't they have the capacity to deliver assistance, they don't have experience," said Mark Farmaner, director of the pro-democracy Burma Campaign UK. "It's already too late for many people. Every day of delays is costing thousands of lives."

Yesterday, Myanmar's military rulers seized two planeloads containing enough high-energy biscuits to feed 95,000 people sent by the U.N. World Food Program, which briefly suspended help after the action. The U.N. later agreed to send two more planes to help survivors.

The government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it plans to distribute the aid itself to affected areas.

In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ye Htut said the junta had clearly stated what it would do and denied the action amounted to a seizure.

"I would like to know which person or organization (made these) these baseless accusations," he said.

The Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and Washington Post contributed to this report.