Floods Hit Pegu Division

By Thu Zar 11 August 2016

Pegu Division has become the latest region hit by flooding in Burma, with more than 50,000 people affected, according to the office of the divisional government.

As of Tuesday, 177 relief camps had been opened in six townships in the division. Monyo Township was hit the hardest—with 18,000 people forced to flee to relief camps—followed by Padaung Township, citing 15,000 victims.

“There are 37 village tracts and five wards in Monyo Township and only two of the village tracts are not flooded. The river has stopped rising, but because the embankment broke, it is likely that water will continue to flow into the town,” said Aye Win, a lawmaker representing Monyo Township in the divisional parliament.

More than 130 houses were wiped out by flooding near Monyo’s Myit Makha village, said Aye Win.

The Pegu divisional government has supplied about 1,000 bags of rice and cash for victims in Monyo Township through the township’s General Administration Department. But supplies will not last beyond August 12 and the situation will worsen if the floodwaters do not recede.

In Tharrawaddy Township, some flood victims have had difficulty getting to relief camps from their homes.

“We have been assisting victims, but donors from the Ayeyarwady Foundation only arrived today,” said Saw Sarte, a priest at Tharrawaddy Church, which has been sheltering 325 flood victims from Tharrawaddy Township.

“We had to bring them from their homes by boat and then by car to get here,” said the priest.