Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes after record heavy rain caused flooding in southern Myanmar.
The hardest hit area is Bago Township in the Bago Region. Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported heavy rain in the town from 06 October 2023, including a record October high of 200 mm in 24 hours on 08 October 2023. This beat the previous record high for the area of 146 mm set in October 2018.
Levels of the Bago River which runs through the town soon jumped above the danger mark. As of 09 October the river stood at 10.04 metres where the danger mark is around 8.80 metres.
According to disaster authorities in Myanmar, as many as 12,000 people were evacuated to the temporary camps and around 2,800 homes have suffered damage.
Flooding has also affected other communities in southern Myanmar. In Kyaikhto Township of Mon State about 55 people from 12 households were evacuated to temporary accommodation. The town of Bilin in Mon State also saw record rainfall for the month of October, with 180 mm falling on 07 October, beating the previous high of 154 mm set in October 2007.
Flooding has also affected areas of Yangon Region. In Taikkyi Township about 100 people were displaced and 27 houses were damaged. Around 13 families were evacuated in Hlegu. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) reported flooding also displaced people around 8 families in Hmawbi.
A total of 14,934 people have been evacuated to 63 emergency evacuation centres across affected areas of Bago, Mon and Yangon, the IFRC said. Additional data from IFRC suggests that 5 people have lost their lives and 35 have been injured. This is yet to be confirmed by other sources. (Update: reference to the fatalities was later removed from reports by IFRC)
