The situation continues to worsen in Burma with the United Nations now estimating 2 million people are at risk of disease and starvation in the wake of the devastating cyclone.

The agency said relief efforts must be increased dramatically in order to address the concerns.

The International Red Cross, also on Wednesday, released new estimates of the death toll, putting the number between 68,833 and 127,990. However, foreign aid workers and journalists have been barred from some of the hardest-hit regions and it is difficult to accurately estimate the damage.

The Red Cross says it came up with the number by adding figures gathered in affected areas by other aid groups and organizations and extrapolating the total.

The ruling military junta, meanwhile, says the storm killed at least 34,273 and left 27,838 missing.

There are also new fears that another cyclone could be headed towards Burma.

The UN's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre warned that a "significant tropical cyclone" could form in the next 24 hours and pass over the Irrawaddy delta area.

Burma's state-controlled media did not broadcast news about a possible second cyclone. However, some residents of Rangoon learned the news from foreign broadcasts and the Internet.

• In Pictures: UNICEF at work
• Related: Canadian aid kits on way to Burma

"I prayed to the Lord Buddha, 'please save us from another cyclone. Not just me but all of Burma,'" said Min Min.

The rickshaw driver had his home destroyed by Cyclone Nargis. He lives with his wife and three children under plastic sheets.

Johnny Chan, a tropical cyclone expert at City University of Hong Kong, said any new cyclone wouldn't be as powerful as Nargis because it is forming close to land.

Cyclones draw their energy from the sea, he said.

"There will be a lot of rain but the winds will not be as strong," Chan told The Associated Press.

UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs spokesperson Amanda Pitt feared the effects of another cyclone.

"They are already weak," she said. A new storm will impact "people's ability to survive and cope with what happened to them ... this is terrible."

Cyclone Nargis smashed into Burma on May 2-3.

Devastated delta

The Irrawaddy delta, the country's most important rice-growing area, took an especially hard blow. The storm's surge sent drove water over the low-lying area.

Bridget Gardner, spokesperson for the International Red Cross, toured the delta on Tuesday.

"The town of Labutta is unrecognizable. I have been here before and now with the extent of the damage and the crowds of displaced people, it's a different place," Gardner was quoted as saying in a statement by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

She praised the efforts of volunteers in the area, even though those people had no homes of their own right now.

Canadian plane on the way

Canada announced Tuesday that it will be sending 2,000 emergency shelter kits to Burma. A flight, using one of the military's C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft, will left CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario early afternoon. The kits will be flown to Bangkok where the Red Cross will take care of distribution.

About two million people are believed to be in need of emergency aid. Only about 270,000 have received help so far.

The Burmese government doesn't have the resources to distribute international aid in a timely manner, but refuses any significant foreign help.

Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was to fly to Rangoon today to try and persuade Burma to grant visas to foreign aid experts. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej warned, without specifically mentioning Burma, that hardship would prevail if help isn't accepted.

"The government has a responsibility to assist their people in the event of a natural disaster,'' said Pitt.

"We are here to do what we can and facilitate their efforts and scale up their response. It is clearly inadequate and we do not want to see a second wave of death as a result of that not being scaled up," she said.

Some have alleged the military government is hoarding international food aid that is arriving and giving out spoiled and poor-quality food instead.

UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had expressed concern that aid was being diverted to non-cyclone victims.

Montas said so far there was no evidence. But Brian Agland, CARE Australia's country director in Burma, said some of his local staff have samples of the rotting rice being distributed in the Irrawaddy delta.

With files from The Associated Press