Myanmar Monsoon Floods Update (As of 11 August 2019)

80,000 People Displaced

Overview

As of Sunday 11 August 2019, there were more than 80,000 people sheltering in evacuation sites across Myanmar, as the country has been battered over the last week by torrential monsoon rains that triggered a landslide in Paung Township, Mon State, killing more than 50 people on Friday, with many people still missing. While in some areas, such as in Kachin and Rakhine States, people returned home once floods subsided, the run-off and continuous heavy rainfalls have rivers swelling and overflowing downstream. Mon State is currently the worst-hit, with more than 26,000 people in evacuation sites, but Bago Region also now has more than 20,000 people displaced by the floods. Kayin State and Sagaing Region are also being buffeted by the rains. Over the next few days, the forecast is for more rain, with the risk of further flooding.

According to Myanmar's Department of Disaster Management, more than 150,000 people have been cumulatively displaced since the floods began in June. The first responders are local communities themselves – private individuals who bring rice or provide help however they can to people affected by the emergency. In addition, the various authorities in Myanmar – the Fire Services, the local administrations and the Military – as well as the Myanmar Red Cross, monasteries, churches and other faith groups, civil society and the private sector have mobilized to respond. The authorities have moved people to evacuation sites, transported the injured to hospital, and provided food, cash, and non-food items such as blankets, sleeping mats and other essentials. The international humanitarian community is responding when and where the national response capacities become overstretched.

On Tuesday 13 August, a UN-led inter-agency monitoring team will travel to Mon to determine specific needs and gaps in current levels of assistance, where the international community is able to support.

Clean water is essential. UNICEF is providing jerry cans to store water, water purification supplies and hygiene kits. WHO is also assisting with water purification tablets, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, mobile medical clinics and snake venom treatment and snake venom awareness campaigns.

Food needs are largely being met by national and local actors, while WFP is ready to support with supplementary ready-to-eat high-energy foods in cases where cooking rice might not be possible, for lack of cooking facilities, utensils and / or clean water.

Link to source article (if applicable): http://www.thewateragency.com