Unprecedented deluge in Burma: 100,000 evacuated, water level in rivers several feet above danger level, temples flooded
Heavy rains and floods have forced thousands of people to leave from their homes to relief camps in Irrawaddy Region of Burma.
The water level of the Irrawaddy River is several feet above its danger level flooding villages and temples along its banks.
“The situation is under control, but what happens now will depend on the weather,” Ko Ko Naing, director general of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, told Reuters.
Flooding across large parts of Burma has displaced more than 100,000
people, causing two deaths, while dramatic riverbank erosion has washed
away a Buddhist pagoda, officials, residents and state media said on
Monday. Severe floods in Burma in July 2017
Water levels have risen steadily since unrelenting monsoon rain began
to lash the heart of the Southeast Asian country in early July, driving
some people to higher land or seek shelter in Buddhist monasteries, a
disaster relief official said.
One man drowned in the floods in the Sagaing region and another was swept away while crossing a stream in Chin State. 2 dead and 100000 displaced after apocalyptical floods in Burma.
On Saturday, images of the Buddha’s footprint that draw pilgrims to a
pagoda in Magwe Division were submerged by the rising waters, although
no damage was immediately apparent. A small dam also collapsed in Pegu
Division.
In Rakhine State, roads and residential areas in Ann and Taungup
townships were inundated with water up to five feet in some places as
of Sunday. Severe flooding in Burma
Video provided to Reuters by a Buddhist monk near Pakokku, 520 km
(323 miles) north of the commercial hub of Rangoon, showed a
gold-leaf-covered pagoda slipping into the raging waters of the
Irrawaddy River on Thursday.
Some riverside villages have been washed away entirely. The villagers
are now scared to live here. The flooding has now decreased, but
erosion continues. A meteorologist has warned of possible upcoming
torrential rains in Myanmar due to a strong monsoon in the Bay of Bengal.
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