The timing of Cyclone Nargis could not have been worse for Burma's isolationist military regime, striking as it did a week before a constitutional referendum that had all the signs of being a rigged affair. With the death toll predicted to cross the 100,000 mark and the devastation unprecedented, the regime may be compelled to allow in international aid. If that happens it will turn the floodlights not only on the referendum but also on the human rights situation in Burma after the bloody crackdown in September on Buddhist monks leading street protests against price rises and the junta's policies.