Aid has begun to flow into regions of Myanmar worst hit by floods that have left at least 69 people dead and more than 250,000 affected, but bad weather continues to hamper relief efforts, prompting residents to call for a better coordination by the government and international groups.
The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement issued the latest figures Wednesday, according to media reports, though the numbers are expected to rise as heavy rains continue to batter the country.
According to the local government, more than 50 people have died in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state alone, which—along with Chin state, and Sagaing and Magway regions—was declared a natural disaster zone by President Thein Sein last week.
Rakhine state minister of transport Hla Han told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the townships of Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw, Mrauk U and Minbya have been most affected by the weather, which worsened as tropical Cyclone Komen crossed the Bay of Bengal late last week.
“Buthidaung and Maungdaw in particular suffered from strong winds, and Buthidaung experienced severe flooding,” he said.
“[Aid is] coming in by planes making five or six trips a day carrying relief items from both the government, as well as from private donors. We also take it in choppers [from the state capital Sittwe] and distribute it to various townships, based on their requests.”
The Rakhine government said more than 10,000 homes, 200 schools, nearly 100 Buddhist monasteries and more than 170,000 acres (68,800 hectares) of rice paddy have been destroyed in flooding since rains began in late June.
It said 10 helicopters have been air-dropping rice and other goods to inundated areas of the state where they are unable to land.
The Irrawaddy online journal said Myanmar’s army apologized Tuesday for damaging air-dropped relief items after photographs circulated online showing villagers retrieving bags of rice which had landed in flooded paddies and split open in the mud, ruining the supplies.
Criticism has also mounted on social media over the government’s handling of the flooding, with netizens saying officials have downplayed the scale of the disaster and been slow to respond.
The disapproval prompted a rare concession from Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government, with spokesman Ye Htut acknowledging that a "weak response to the disaster led to misunderstandings about evacuation efforts," according to a report by the official Global New Light of Myanmar.
Thein Sein is scheduled to travel to Rakhine state on Thursday to assess damage in the region.
Aid to Rakhine
International relief is also trickling into Rakhine state, which is reeling from contaminated water sources, as well as downed power and phone lines, and inundated roads and rivers.
A 10-member nongovernmental humanitarian organization from China is making its way to the region, according to a statement by the Chinese Embassy, while Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang met with residents of Mrauk U on Wednesday and donated U.S. $100,000 in flood relief funds.
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced Tuesday that it was surveying damage along with other U.N. and NGO staff in Rakhine, where about 130,000 people displaced by ethnic conflict since 2012 live in poorly maintained camps.
“In 24 camps assessed so far, a quarter of the temporary shelters are damaged, and more than 21,000 displaced people affected as a result,” the UNHCR said in a statement, adding that many of the shelters in the camps had become fragile and unable to withstand severe weather.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said Wednesday that it was delivering supplies in Rakhine state and other flood-hit areas of Myanmar to address the “particular challenges that women and girls face” in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters.
In a statement, the UNFPA said the relief would “help ensure that each and every childbirth is safe … that every new mother and her infant receive the care they need, and that women and girls are safe from sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence” in the disaster zones.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, also met with Rakhine state chief minister Major General Maung Maung Ohn and a group of elders from Sittwe in Yangon Wednesday, as part of her third official visit to assess the status of human rights in the country from Aug. 3-7.
Ethnic Rakhine elder Than Tun urged the U.N. and international NGOs to do more to aid the region.
“The U.N. and INGO aid response is very slow, and thus we requested a more effective way of assisting the flood victims,” he told RFA.
Chin state and southern Myanmar
Heavy rains continue to contribute to flooding in other parts of the country, including Chin state, where an official said six people had been killed in recent days by landslides in the capital Hakha and in Paletwa township, on western Myanmar’s shared border with Bangladesh.
“Three truck drivers and one worker were killed while repairing a damaged road about 18 miles (29 kilometers) from Hakha, and their bodies have yet to be found,” Talong Kye-O, secretary of Chin state’s relief committee, told RFA on Wednesday.
“The local river widened and they left their vehicles to cross the waters, but were carried away.”
More than 200 houses have been destroyed in Paletwa and more than 90 in the nearby township of Falam, he added.
Officials also warned Wednesday that the Irrawaddy Delta in southwestern Myanmar—where the majority of the country’s rice is grown—was at critical risk of flooding as waters surge downriver from northern regions.
More rain is expected in Mon state, as well as in southern Bago and Irrawaddy regions over the next three days, meteorologist Tun Lwin told RFA, adding that water levels in the Irrawaddy Delta are already at dangerous levels.
“We are now experiencing heavy rains in Mon state … [and] we are watching the situation—it could be very dangerous if the small dams in the area collapse,” he said.
“Water levels are still rising in Bago and Irrawaddy regions, and all of the rice paddies could be destroyed.”
Other relief
Several countries have pledged emergency relief assistance to Myanmar in recent days, in response to an appeal by the government for international aid on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday told regional and international leaders gathered in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit this week that Washington was working with Myanmar to determine aid priorities and would offer a package soon.
Borge Brende, the foreign minister of Norway, also reportedly pledged financial assistance to Myanmar during the ASEAN summit, while Australia announced Wednesday it would contribute nearly U.S. $1.5 million towards relief efforts in response to the request for aid.
Earlier this week, neighboring Thailand pledged a donation to Myanmar of 5 million baht (U.S. $142,000), and Japan said it would provide emergency relief supplies—including blankets, mattresses and plastic sheets—worth 18 million yen (U.S. $144,000).
Reported by Moe Klaya Oo, Min Thein Aung, Zani Tun and Kyaw Thu for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.