Moline resident worries about family in Myanmar

By Kay Luna | Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Moline resident Zona Mundt has been trying desperately to reach about 30 family members still living in the Southeast Asia country of Myanmar, the home of her youth, which she left 20 years ago.

But as of Monday night, the 49-year-old restaurant owner still had not heard from her oldest sister, or her nieces and nephews, since a deadly cyclone tore through the country late Friday and early Saturday. About 4,000 people have been reported dead there so far, but officials say the death toll could rise to more than 10,000.

“Am I worried? Of course,” said Mundt, taking a short break from cooking meals at her newest restaurant, Little Rangoon II, located at Rock Valley Plaza, 4018 Blackhawk Road, Rock Island. Mundt said she also owns the Little Rangoon restaurant in downtown Moline.

“We cannot contact them, cannot e-mail or anything. I’m watching the BBC and the Internet a lot. … I’ve been thinking about her,” she added, referring to her oldest sister.

— Kay Luna