Mother and two children dead, father missing, in Magway region flash flood

A woman and both of her children have died after a creek overflowed due to heavy rains in Pakokku, the biggest city in Myanmar’s central Magway region. The woman’s husband is still missing after the flood waters destroyed their family home.

The bodies of the two children were found immediately on Saturday morning. Their mother’s body was found later that evening, according to locals. Firefighters and locals are still searching for the man. The names and the ages of the deceased are not yet known. 

A Pakokku resident told RFA it rained heavily on Friday night and Saturday morning, filling the creek and causing it to overflow.

“It’s a dry creek that flows strongly from the rain,” the local said. “The two parents and the children were swept away by the flood when the rain was heavy.”

Myanmar’s rainy season normally lasts from May through October but central regions are usually drier than the lower parts of the country. This year, Pakokku residents say the city has seen heavy rains, toppling trees and power poles and causing roadblocks.

Residents told RFA people who do not own homes in the city center are forced to build houses next to creeks, which often overflow during rainstorms. 

There are many creeks in the city and locals said nearly 100 people have been killed by floods there since 2010.