Environment
Five dead, 40,000 evacuated as monsoon floods hit Myanmar
Monsoon rains have triggered floods and landslides in Myanmar, claiming five lives and displacing around 40,000 people.
The devastation comes on the heels of Cyclone Mocha’s impact in May. Climate change exacerbates such extreme weather events globally.
![](https://gutzymedia.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp/2023/08/17063034/33QV7VC-preview-1-1.png)
YANGON, MYANMAR — Floods and landslides caused by monsoon rains have killed five people and forced the evacuation of around 40,000 others in Myanmar, officials said Friday.
Footage from Rakhine state, which was ravaged in May by Cyclone Mocha, showed large areas of villages and farmland submerged by murky yellow-brown waters.
Myanmar is hit by heavy rains every year around this time, but extreme weather events have struck around the globe in recent weeks, events scientists say are made worse by climate change.
Five people have been killed, Lay Shwe Zin Oo, director of Myanmar’s social welfare, relief and resettlement ministry told AFP.
Around 37,000 people have been evacuated already around Myanmar, she added, with the figure set to rise above 40,000 on Friday.
“Our department is giving necessary things for households evacuated to temporary camps,” she said.
Flooding began in late July and has affected nine of the country’s states and regions, including Rakhine, Kachin, Karen, Mon and Chin.
In Karen state, a landslide has cut off an important highway linking a town on the border with Thailand, and the junta has said it could take a month to build a temporary bridge.
Myanmar is in the grip of a bloody civil conflict between the junta, which seized power in a February 2021 coup, and civilian militias opposed to its rule.
According to a local monitoring group, more than 3,800 people have been killed since the coup, a figure the junta puts at 5,000.
The United Nations sharply criticised the junta for its handling of the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which killed at least 148 people and destroyed many homes.
The UN condemned the junta’s refusal to allow aid workers to access the region, prompting state media to accuse the world body of “arrogance, ignorance and self-interest”.
— AFP
![](https://gutzy.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Gutzy-Logo-whiteS.png)
-
Singapore3 days ago
Dr Tommy Koh: “INCOME and Fairprice should never be sold”
-
Business1 day ago
Concerns over conflict of interest and corporate governance arise in Income’s sale to Allianz
-
Singapore2 weeks ago
Youngest self-radicalised Singaporean and 33-yr-old former public servant issued restriction order under ISA
-
Comments2 weeks ago
Voters interviewed at West Coast GRC, expressed hope for PSP representation in Parliament
-
Singapore2 weeks ago
Singapore’s birth rates decline by 5.8% as total fertility rate drops below 1
-
International2 weeks ago
Attempted assassination at Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania: Shooter and one attendee dead, two critically injured
-
Singapore1 week ago
AGO Report reveals lapses in MOE’s school projects; Police report filed over possible falsifications
-
Singapore1 day ago
NTUC Enterprise Chairman assures affordable insurance for lower-income customers amid Allianz deal concerns