New Delhi – The first UN relief shipments from overseas landed in Rangoon today, but aid agencies are desperately waiting for more supplies to help Burma's cyclone survivors.

At least two aid agencies working inside Burma today said they received humanitarian aid from outside the country for the first time since the cyclone struck nearly a week ago.

Matt Cochrane, media officer for the International Federation of Red Cross, told Mizzima that a flight arrived from Malaysia carrying supplies for reconstruction.

"Emergency shelter – and that include tarpaulins, ropes and basic tools so that people can quickly construct basic shelters," he said.

"We have another flight leaving Bangkok tomorrow and we plan another one as soon as we can get the necessary paperwork and supplies," Cochrane added.

The IFRC has issued a worldwide appeal for emergency donations totaling US $5.9 million.

Aid agencies have been frustrated by the military junta's slow response to allow aid and international relief workers into the country, and worry that survivors may begin to die if food doesn't reach them soon.

The World Food Programme (WFP) also said one of its planes was allowed to land in Rangoon – this one from Bangladesh.

"We received seven tons of high energy biscuit today … and we will be distributing tomorrow in the Irrawaddy division," said Paul Risley, spokesman for the WFP. "This is the first time."

The biscuits are highly nutritious and may be enough to help several hundred people in the short term, he said.

"No other flights have arrived, so we hope they will arrive tomorrow and that they will bring 38 additional tons of high-energy biscuits," Risley said.

The WFP has set aside US $500,000 for emergency food aid, according to a statement.

Both WFP and the IFRC hope to get more supplies to survivors, especially in the Irrawaddy Delta, where tens of thousands have died and a million left homeless.

The agencies said it was still difficult to confirm death tolls and damage estimates because roads are blocked, bridges have collapsed and flood water still covers most of the area.

"It's very difficult to know how badly affected some communities are," Cochrane said, adding that assessment teams were still trying to reach the worst-affected places.

Early reports indicate that 95 percent of houses have been destroyed and about 1 million people have been affected or might be homeless, Cochrane said.

Aid agencies were still waiting for their experts to obtain visas from the Burmese government, but the IFRC said a few of its staff had received visas. Three international staffs were already inside country when the cyclone hit.