More than a month of heavy monsoon rains and the tail-end of a cyclone have triggered some of the worst flash floods and landslides in living memory
ADVERTISEMENTMore than a month of heavy monsoon rains and the tail-end of a cyclone have triggered some of the worst flash floods and landslides in living memory in Myanmar.
In flooded #Myanmar, government clears path for aid workers (
Reuters</a>) <a href="http://t.co/Ry592U8cBS">http://t.co/Ry592U8cBS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Floods?src=hash">#Floods</a> <a href="http://t.co/SaNCXSJBex">pic.twitter.com/SaNCXSJBex</a></p>— Pierre in Myanmar (pierre_peron) August 8, 2015
At least 99 people are known to have died so far. More than 900,000 have been affected.
Those with the means to move have been given shelter in schools and government buildings.
Those unwilling to leave their homes are living in houses inundated with water.
“We don’t have a boat so all we can do is sit here,” said one man living on a raised platform in his house. “There is no toilet, nothing is worse than that. We’re fine for water because a man came and gave us some and we can use it.”
MYANMAR FLOODS:
Khalsa_Aid</a> delivering 15000 water bottles to worst hit areas. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MyanmarFlood?src=hash">#MyanmarFlood</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Myanmar?src=hash">#Myanmar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/burma?src=hash">#burma</a> <a href="http://t.co/jwYobqDEQ6">pic.twitter.com/jwYobqDEQ6</a></p>— ravinder singh (RaviSinghKA) August 9, 2015
International help is on its way. The UN has pledged eight million euros.
But critics say most support is coming from private sources like NGOs and not from the government.
Only two of the country’s 14 states have not been affected by the floods.
#Myanmar – 589,900 critically affected people by floods http://t.co/SCK9CRdtop by
UNOCHA</a> <a href="http://t.co/YIwK5Lwlxw">pic.twitter.com/YIwK5Lwlxw</a></p>— Brendan McDonald (7piliers) August 9, 2015