Mizzima and RFA
The Ayeyarwaddy River flooded low-lying areas of Myitkyina Town, Kachin State as the river’s levels rose to more than 1 metre above its critical level, at 6:00 am on 1 July 2024.
The critical level for the Ayeyarwaddy River as it flows past Myitkyina is 1,200cm, but at 6:00am on 1 July it reached 1,317cm.
About 10,000 people, including many displaced people had to flee while many others have been trapped on their roofs by the rising waters, according to relief workers who spoke to Radio Free Asia on 1 July.
“Every neighborhood is flooded. It could be worse than the record set in 2004,” said a relief worker in Myitkyina who did not want to be identified.
There are lots of people affected”, they added.
Currently, the Myitkyina Town wards of Sitapur, Myothitkyi, Rampu, Kyatpaungchan, Ayesayti, Lalkone, and Pamatee are flooded.
Residents have sought shelter in monasteries and elsewhere on higher ground. Over 200 flood-affected people are taking refuge in Shwe Supan Monastery. 380 more people are sheltering at the No. (4) Basic Education High School, and more than 100 people are at a temporary emergency relief camp in Myitkyina town, according to local residents.
One of the residents said: “The total number of flood victims is not yet known. Some want to go to their relatives, and some are taking refuge in churches, monasteries, and emergency flood relief camps.”
Some residents of Myitkyina have taken refuge from the swirling, murky waters on the roofs of their homes.
“We’re trapped,” one resident stuck on a roof told RFA. The water is almost as deep as the height of a man.”
In my household, there are three kids and two elderly people and rescue hasn’t come yet, but they said they would. They said they’d run into some difficulties on the way.”
Camps for people displaced by weeks of fighting between the autonomy-seeking Kachin Independence Army insurgent group and junta forces in Waingmaw, Chipwi and Myitkyina townships were also flooded, with their inhabitants forced to find higher ground, witnesses said.
There were no immediate reports of deaths in the latest flooding but landslides, partly triggered by the heavy rain, have recently killed at least 35 people in rare earth mines in Chipwi Township.
RFA called Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, for information on rescue efforts but calls went unanswered. A junta-backed newspaper, The Global New Light of Myanmar, reported that relief operations were underway and nine evacuation facilities had opened in Kachin state since Sunday.
The junta’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said that the rising water levels in the Ayeyarwaddy River are due to heavy rains in the Putao area, which raised levels in the upper N’Mai Hka River, a major tributary of the Ayeyarwaddy River.
The National Unity Government’s (NUG’s) Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management said that the Southwest Monsoon season has started and heavy rains are causing floods landslides, and riverbank erosion.
It warned that during the first week of July, heavy rain is expected in Kachin State and the upper part of Sagaing and advised people to be aware of potential floods and landslides.
Residents in river-side communities on the Ayeyarwaddy in Sagaing, Magway and Ayeyarwaddy regions, are worried that the flooding will soon reach them.
RFA contributed to this report
