- About 120,000 people have sought shelter in 300 rescue camps run by the Myanmar government
- Most of the rivers in Myanmar have exceeded the danger level by several feet and 36 dams and reservoirs are now overflowing due to torrential rain
DHAKA: As many as 140,000 people have been displaced after heavy flood water washed away their homes in southeastern Myanmar over the past few days.
At least 27 people died in the flood water, and about 1,20,000 people have taken shelter in 300 rescue camps run by the Myanmar government.
Experts and local residents fear a deterioration of the situation in the next couple of days.
Authorities are struggling to reach the most affected areas as road communications have been disrupted by flood water.
Most of the rivers in Myanmar have exceeded the danger level by several feet and 36 dams and reservoirs are overflowing due to torrential rain that caused the devastating floods, reported the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM) newspaper.
Among the 14 states of the country, seven are most affected as the Mekong region, along with some other major rivers, inundates both banks.
At least 30,000 acres of farmland has been completely destroyed and another 75,000 acres has been partially damaged, GNLM reported.
Western Rakhine and Chin states are the worst affected areas among the seven affected states. President Sein declared these “national disaster affected regions” last Friday, according to the GNLM report.
In Maungdaw, one of the areas of Rakhine state where thousands of Muslims lived before the military crackdown of Aug. 25 last year led to more than 1 million Rohingyas seeking refuge in Bangladesh, many houses and office buildings have been destroyed and road communications have collapsed.
More than 7,000 people are living in rescue camps in Minbyar town where relief activities are very inadequate, local newspapers reported.
In Kayin, another severely affected state, authorities have asked people to leave their homes and take shelter in rescue camps. On Tuesday, the National Natural Disaster Management Committee advised Hpa-an and Thabaung Township residents “to move to areas safe from flood,” the Myanmar News Agency reported.
In Bago region, which is considered the most affected state, about 30,000 people took shelter in 33 rescue camps.
In many areas, volunteers and rescuers are trying to pick up marooned people using small boats while some are trying to float by any means possible — making makeshift rafts — or by wading.
However, the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) has said that it will help affected farmers replant rice as soon as the flood water recedes. On Tuesday, MRF General Secretary U Ye Min Aung said: “At the moment, relief work is being conducted by the government together with relevant organizations in flooded and inundated areas.”
“When the water recedes and redevelopment works are conducted, MRF will assist farmers in the rice-producing areas of Bago Region, Mon State and Kayin State, so that there would not be any effect on rice production,” Min Aung said.
Authorities are now working to assess the damage, “assessments and studies are being conducted now so that timely replanting, if and where necessary, can be done. As such, we are discussing and coordinating with relevant organizations to obtain actual facts,” Min Aung said.
Floods caused by heavy monsoon rain hit Myanmar every year.
In 2015 the country experienced its most devastating flood, which displaced 1.7 million people and destroyed 15,000 homes. More than 340,000 hectares of farmland were completely destroyed, as reported by The Irrawaddy, one of the leading national dailies.