Aug 11, 2015 Following the death of 69 persons in floods triggered by monsoon rains, relief materials have arrived at Rakhine state, one of the regions hardest hit by recent floods.
According to Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Aid workers are reaching out to areas in Myanmar that have been hit by recent floods which have displaced more than 250,000 people.
The ministry added that tons of displaced persons have taken shelter in 23 monasteries while NGOs, community leaders and authorities have sent water, water purification tablets, blankets, mosquito nets and soap to alleviate the living condition of the displaced persons.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is currently providing emergency assistance to flood-affected areas across Myanmar, including Bago, Chin, Magway, Mon, Rakhine and Sagaing.
The government had earlier issued a flood warning to people living in the Ayeyarwady delta in Myanmar’s southwest and a report from the Global New Light of Myanmar says that elderly people and children have been moved out of dangerous areas.
Myanmar’s Meteorological Department released a statement saying that some rivers in the region were 2-3.5 feet higher than was safe and water levels were expected to rise another 6 inches in the coming days.
With Ayeyarwady delta being Myanmar’s major rice producing area, the United Nations has raised concern over the country’s food security, following a report saying that more than 1.1 million acres of farmland, most of it rice paddies, have been flooded and another 65,000 acres destroyed.