About two thousand residents of Kachin State’s capital Myitkyina were still taking shelter in churches, monasteries and evacuation centers on higher ground on Wednesday as large swathes of the city remained submerged by the worst flooding in 20 years, residents and rescue workers said.
Rescue operations paused on Wednesday morning as the level of the Ayeyarwaddy River fell from its highest point after torrential rainfall eased the evening before. Still, those seeking safety at temporary shelters stayed put as floodwaters remained above two meters in some of the city’s wards.
Almost every ward in the city is flooded, a member of the Myo Sett Thit rescue team said. Myo Ma and Aye Yar wards are the least affected, the rescue worker said.
In wards closest to the Ayeyarwaddy River, including Sitapur, Khaymathiri and Kyatt Paung Chan, flood waters remain between 1.5 and 2.2 meters high, according to one rescue team.
Rescue teams were still evacuating people trapped in the flooding on Tuesday.
“We were evacuating residents all day yesterday [Tuesday]. Today, we just transferred some students from Myitkyina University to a safe place. Floodwaters on the university campus are almost six-feet [1.8 meters] high,” a member of one rescue team said.
Rescue workers said six wards of the city – Sett Hmut, Botahtaung, Rampu, Alal Kone, Myay Myint and Yuzana – were hit the hardest. The wards have been evacuated and only a few residents remain in their homes to guard their property, rescue workers said.
They said the flood evacuees were taking shelter at eight sites on high ground in the city.
Seven rescue teams, including firefighters, are providing food and medical supplies to those in need.
“There are no casualties or injuries, but there is a lot of property damage … and residents need food and medicine,” a member of one rescue team said.
Myitkyina has a population of about 250,000, according to the last census, in 2014. The city has seen an influx of internally displaced people since conflict in the state intensified earlier this year.
On Monday, the Ayeyarwaddy River surged 1.5 meters above its critical level, trapping thousands of residents in their homes after it breached its banks.
The flooding is the most severe to hit the Kachin State capital since 2004.
The river’s water level had been rising since the early evening of June 28, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
The peak level of the Ayeyarwaddy River on Monday was just 2 centimeters below the highest level reached in 2004, 1408 centimeters, said Ko Naing Lin Htwe, an official at the Myitkyina Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
People living near the banks of the river, especially those in Bhamo and Shwegu townships, should move to safe places to avoid disaster, the official said.
The Central Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said on Tuesday that heavy rain will persist in Kachin State until July 4.
