Heavy rains have caused extensive flooding in Minbya, Kyauktaw, and nearby townships in Rakhine State, affecting more than 80 villages and leading to the deaths of a local woman and her child on Sunday.
The rising floodwaters in Thar Si, Pyin Yaung, and other Minbya Township villages forced the inhabitants to seek safety on higher ground and in neighbouring villages.
The two victims were Win Tin Kyi, 30, and her son Myo Win Ko from the village of Pyin Yaung, according to a local there. The woman travelled to Thar Si along with her two sons to deliver money to someone, and she and her younger son were killed in the flooding.
“The older son survived because he knew how to swim. The water was only at waist-level when they set out, but rose sharply while they were on their way home,” he said.
A woman from Pyin Yaung said residents from low-lying villages in the vicinity had prepared survival packs in case they needed to escape quickly.
“Now it’s raining heavily. It’s been flooding for five days. In our village, the water level is up to about four feet. The situation for manual laborers is especially hard because they can’t earn anything and can’t pick or dig up any vegetables to eat, and the rescue teams aren’t coming,” she said.
Another woman said that a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near Nyaung Chaung village, Kyauktaw Township, is in an area impacted by the flooding.
“The Nyaung Chaung IDP camp has been completely flooded. Some of the IDPs are fleeing to villages in the highlands, and some are trying to shelter in the stilt houses in our village,” she said.
Zaw Zaw Tun, director of the nonprofit humanitarian relief group Action for Community Resilience Organisation (ACRO) based in Sittwe, said the floodwaters had done extensive damage to farms and homes.
“Since the Lemro River overflowed its banks, the water level has risen about five feet in villages on both banks in Mrauk-U and Minbya Township. It’s still unclear exactly which villages have flooded throughout Rakhine State, but we know 80 or more villages have been affected,” he said.
Natural disasters have taken a heavy toll on Rakhine State in recent months. In mid-May, the state suffered the brunt of the impact from Cyclone Mocha, which also caused damage in Sagaing and Magway regions.
Most of the property destruction, deaths and injuries caused by the cyclone occurred in Rakhine State, and there were at least 145 fatalities according to information gathered by ASEAN, with the publicly mandated National Unity Government estimating a higher death toll of more than 400.
Many Rakhine State residents never received sufficient aid following the cyclone, and the recent floods began as they continued struggling to recover from the previous disaster.
