Myanmar floods in Ayeyarwady affect more than 40,000

More than 40,000 people have been affected by flooding in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady region since the Ngawun River embankment broke in Laymyethna on July 30. By the night of August 7, water in several urban areas had begun to recede, but many villages and farmland remained underwater. The government opened temporary relief camps, distributed food and said more than 146 million kyat had been raised for emergency response. The center of the crisis is Lemyethna township, where water swept through homes and rice fields after the embankment gave way. Authorities blamed heavy rain and erosion, while some residents said the embankment had already been fragile. Relief efforts have also been hampered by restricted access to the flood zone and the conflict situation, even though Ayeyarwady is known as Myanmar’s rice bowl and this planting season covers about 3,7 million acre of rice fields.