YANGON (UCAN): Flash floods triggered by incessant rains badly affected internally displaced people [IDPs] in western and southern Myanmar, say Church sources.
“We have received information of damaged houses in Paletwa town [in Chin state] and are still collecting information from flood-affected communities in Rakhine state,” Father Nereus Tun Min, director of Karuna Pyay [Caritas] said.
Paletwa was hit by Cyclone Mocha in May 2023. About 500 displaced people live in five camps, including one inside the compound of St. Peter Catholic Church, since fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army began in 2018.
“We are arranging to send cash from our Lenten fund to repair damaged homes,” Father Tun Min said on August 8.
At least 33 houses made of bamboo and tarpaulin were badly damaged and people were moved to safe areas, according to Mg Aye, a Church social worker from Paletwa.
We can’t do anything to repair our house as it is still raining. We are IDPs without an income source and need help to do it
U Taninlar
“It is still raining and we are concerned for the people living in low-lying areas and near rivers,” Mg Aye said.
U Taninlar said his house inside the church compound was completely damaged and he had taken refuge at his son’s house nearby.
“We can’t do anything to repair our house as it is still raining. We are IDPs without an income source and need help to do it,” said the 58-year-old from the Khumi Chin tribe.
Heavy rains have inundated Southern Myanmar since the beginning of August leading to widespread flooding, landslides and damaged roads, local media reported.
Over 10,000 people were evacuated to shelters in Mon and Karen states, according to an August 5 report in the junta-run Mirror newspaper.
At least 455 people were killed and tens of thousands of homes damaged by the cyclone, which devastated Rakhine, Chin, and Kachin states along with Magwe and Sagaing regions.
