Floods Strand Thousands in Myanmar (in Photos)

Emily Moon
August 4, 2018
Heavy rains flooded Myanmar this week, displacing 150,000 people and killing at least 12.
Myanmar police officers help push a tuk-tuk through floodwaters in the Bago region on July 29th, 2018.

Heavy rains have flooded Myanmar this week, killing at least 12 people and displacing 150,000 more. As the monsoon continues its downpour, rescuers struggle to deliver food and aid to marooned villagers by boat, and refugees take shelter in hundreds of temporary camps across the county.

Nearly 28,000 people remain stranded in their homes, according to the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper, either unable or unwilling to brave the floodwaters. Their fears are not misplaced; among the dozen dead, three were soldiers swept away during a rescue operation, Director-General Ko Ko Naing of the Disaster Management Department told Al Jazeera. 

Compounding the nation’s already overflowing dams, reservoirs, and rivers, officials worry that protective embankments could burst, engulfing more villages in the deluge, Channel News Asia reports. The last severe flooding event in the country killed 103 people and displaced up to a million in 2015.

Residents use improvised rafts to move through floodwaters in Hpa-an, Karen state, on July 28th, 2018. Floodwaters have forced thousands from their homes in southeast Myanmar.
Residents use improvised rafts to move through floodwaters in Hpa-an, Karen state, on July 28th, 2018. Floodwaters have forced thousands from their homes in southeast Myanmar.

(Photo: Saw Kyaw San Oo/AFP/Getty Images)

Myanmar police officers help push a tuk-tuk through floodwaters in the Bago region on July 29th, 2018.
Myanmar police officers help push a tuk-tuk through floodwaters in the Bago region on July 29th, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)

A woman pushes children on an inner-tube through a flooded street in Shwegyin, Bago region, on August 2nd, 2018.
A woman pushes children on an inner-tube through a flooded street in Shwegyin, Bago region, on August 2nd, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)

A man rides a tri-shaw along a flooded road in Yangon on August 2nd, 2018.
A man rides a tri-shaw along a flooded road in Yangon on August 2nd, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung ThuAFP/Getty Images)

Children rest as residents displaced from floods take shelter in a monastery compound in Madauk, Bago region, on August 2nd, 2018.
Children rest as residents displaced from floods take shelter in a monastery compound in Madauk, Bago region, on August 2nd, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)

Residents walk in floodwaters in the Bago region on July 29th, 2018.
Residents walk in floodwaters in the Bago region on July 29th, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)

Volunteers with relief goods travel on floodwaters in Shwegyin, Bago region, on August 1st, 2018.
Volunteers with relief goods travel on floodwaters in Shwegyin, Bago region, on August 1st, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)

Young people sit in a boat outside a home surrounded by floodwaters in Shwegyin, Bago region, on August 2nd, 2018.
Young people sit in a boat outside a home surrounded by floodwaters in Shwegyin, Bago region, on August 2nd, 2018.

(Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)

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