EXACERBATING NEEDS
Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement said that as of Aug 11, heavy rainfall and river flooding in Sagaing had forced more than 11,400 people from 3,220 households to relocate to flood relief centres.
In Wetlet, Aung Ko stayed behind with his brother-in-law to look after their cow, saying only about 10 or 14 people remained.
They have been living on an upper floor of their home under tarpaulins and surviving on instant noodles and bottled water provided by local rescuers visiting by boat.
“Before the donors came, we had no choice but to take floodwater and boil it to drink,” he said, standing in knee-high muddy waters.
OCHA spokesman Pierre Peron told AFP on Friday that the organisation had no figures yet for the number of people displaced by the heavy rains.
But “with ongoing monsoon rainfall and several major rivers at or above danger levels, we unfortunately estimate that the impact of the flooding will continue in coming days and weeks”.
UN partners were mobilising to help the most vulnerable, he said, yet the “flood damage to homes, shelters, infrastructure and farmland has exacerbated humanitarian needs, particularly for food, health services, safe water and livelihood support”.
While seasonal monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly across the region.