For the developing world, natural disasters are exactly that–disasters. First, as was seen with this year’s devastating earthquake in Nepal, poor countries lack the infrastructure they need to cope during and after disasters, whether they be earthquakes, storms, fires or floods. People die and displacement is massive.

Next, floods and storms can wipe out livestock and decimate crops, leaving those who live off the land vulnerable to food shortage, and farmers without a livelihood. This is bad for both individuals and entire countries, as economies rely on the stuff that it produces to trade with other countries.

Water can be contaminated, especially in floods as flood water mixes with drinking water. In countries with poor sanitation, toilets can be submerged spilling all manner of filth into the drinking supply. And lastly, disease spreads very easily which can wipe out entire populations if they don’t have proper vaccination or medical services.

Sound fun? Sounds like a disaster to me.

If you live in Myanmar, this could be what you have to deal with as you wait for the flood waters from Cyclone Komen and weeks of torrential rains to subside. At this stage it seems that 103 people have died and more than one million people are displaced by the rising waters.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of productive farmland have been flooded, wiping out this year's crops and devastating those living off the land. UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, said that initial reports suggest an increase in food insecurity as "the flooding has destroyed crops, threatening those children already suffering from both acute and chronic malnutrition across the country."

Myanmar clearly needs a great deal of international support as they come to grips with the flooding. Myanmar’s government has asked the international community to provide aid to save the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable, which includes children and the elderly.

The good news is that we've seen some rapid responses, such as the US$9 million that was released by the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund. This sounds good, but aid agencies estimate that it will take US$47 million to support Myanmar throughout this disaster.

You may have seen Facebook encouraging you to “help the people of Myanmar” by donating to Save the Children’s flood relief efforts. Incredibly, Facebook hopes to donate up to US$500,000 as they match user-donations dollar for dollar.

At this stage, the Australian government has pledged AU$2 million in financial aid and to supply family kits containing vital supplies. It’s interesting to note that this pledge represents slightly more than 0.05% of the aid budget for the year and less than half a percent of what politicians will spend on entitlements this year.

More can and should be done to support Myanmar during this terrible time. Sure, none of the 580,000 people affected by the floods will vote in Australia’s forthcoming election, but our leadership role in the Asia-Pacific compels all of us–government and citizen–to offer a robust hand of support rather than an offensive chewed-off hangnail.

Let’s get behind the people of Myanmar–make sure you take Facebook up on their offer to match your donation dollar for dollar. Let’s also urge our government to do more–send a tweet to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and tell them that you think they can do better.