The Honolulu-based Aloha Medical Mission is seeking permission from the Myanmar government to send a medical team there to help cyclone victims.

Dr. Carl Lum, who plans to lead the emergency mission, said he is working with the chief monk from Sagaing — who helped facilitate previous missions — to help volunteers obtain visas for the emergency mission.

"It's very difficult to send a mission there because the military government there is not keen about having outsiders come in," Lum said. "Other outside groups in the past have not been able to go in, but I've been able to send missions there only through him."

He said he expects the approvals for the emergency mission might take a few weeks. It's planned for mission volunteers — who will also bring medicine and supplies —to be in Myanmar for several weeks.

Lum said he sent out an e-mail about the emergency mission a couple of days ago and as of yesterday 25 doctors and nurses had volunteered.

"It's quite an amazing response," Lum said. "I've been leading missions for Aloha Medical Mission for years, and I've never gotten that kind of response in such a hurry."

Lum said all volunteers pay their own travel expenses, with money generated from fundraising going toward medicine and supplies.

Lum said mission volunteers went to Myanmar last year and the year before, and that another mission has been scheduled there in October.

But unlike those missions, which were in the Mandalay area, this emergency mission will be targeted for the Irrawady delta area, which was hit hardest by the cyclone, he said.

"That whole area is under water, and towns and villages in that area have been more or less completely destroyed," Lum said.

More than 20,000 people are known dead and tens of thousands more are missing following Saturday's devastating cyclone.

The U.N. estimates more than 1 million are homeless, and officials have said the number of dead could eventually top 100,000 because there's not enough safe food and water.

Myanmar's military regime allowed in the first major international aid shipment yesterday, but continued to stall on visas for U.N. teams and other foreign aid workers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.