More than 20,000 people have been affected by severe flooding in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Region after the Ngawun River burst through an embankment, swamping thousands of homes and forcing families into temporary shelters.
Footage filmed on Tuesday shows residents wading through deep water, homes partially submerged and rescue teams carrying people and relief supplies by boat.
In Aing Tha Pyu village, U Win Aung Myat said clean drinking water had become the most urgent need after floodwater contaminated local wells.
“The main thing is drinking water. The food we have at home is edible. I didn’t plan for water. What I thought would be easy turned out to be the most difficult thing. Previously, the well at our house produced water automatically, but now it doesn’t,” he said.
Naw Muu Gey War, a mother of three from Lat Tha Mar Karean village, said families were relying on donated supplies.
“As for drinking water, we only get it from donors when we come up to the mountain. All the wells have been filled up by floodwater. We can’t drink it anymore,” the woman said.
The flooding also destroyed the Lat Tha Mar Bridge, cutting the route between Aing Tha Pyu village and Laymyethna Township. Authorities are preparing to install a temporary Bailey bridge to reopen the road and reach people stranded on the other side.
“Once the bridge is here, we will be able to bring out the people trapped on the other side of Aing Tha Pyu from here and towards Nga Thaing Chaung,” junior engineer U Nyi Nyi Aung said.
Authorities said that by August 4, the floods had affected 5,046 homes and 5,134 households, covering 21,463 people across five urban wards and 57 villages. Thirteen temporary relief camps were sheltering 2,023 people from 610 households.
The breach began on the night of July 30 after heavy rain and erosion weakened the Ngawun River embankment in Laymyethna Township. Earlier official reports said sand boils and land subsidence also contributed to the failure.
Rescue teams were also searching for three people swept away by the floodwaters. Eleven others caught in the current were rescued.
Source: Viory
