Heavier than normal monsoon rain has led to severe flooding throughout Burma, especially in Karen and Mon states and along the Mekong River.
The flooding from torrential rains began the first week of August causing extensive damage to homes and displacing hundreds of people in Pa-an located on the Salween River in eastern Burma.
According to a Pa-an resident, the flooding was the worst in his lifetime. Heavy rain continued for several days, extensively disrupting transportation.
“Newly planted rice fields are covered with water and more than 100 people who lived on the bank of the Salween have taken refuge in schools building,” he said.
Communities in Moulmein and Mudon also faced torrential rains and flooding.
Trees were blown down by high winds and some homes and schools lost their roofs in the storms. Local rubber plantations and gardens were also damaged.
State media reported on Friday that a high tide of from 20.1 to 20.90 feet is expected on the Rangoon River from August 17 to 22.
Meanwhile, villagers who live near the Mekong River in Shan Sate and in several provinces in Laos and Thailand also faced severe flooding as the water level in the river rises.
A staff member of the Mekong Post, a Chiang Rai-based community media group that monitors the Mekong River area, told The Irrawaddy that flooding is affecting farmland regions in Laos and Burma.
On Thursday, Tuenjai Deetes, a Thai human rights activist and former senator, visited affected areas in Chiang Rai Province, where more than 30 villages were flooded.
Tuenjai said the flooding is a long-term concern for people living along the Mekong River which run through China, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. one of the main problems, she said, is a series of river dams built by China in the past decade, according to a report on the Mekong Post Web site.
Recently in the Golden Triangle area of northern Thailand where the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos converge, the Mekong River reached its highest level in 30 years, flooding homes and farmland.
Local residents said the Mekong flooding is increased when the dams in China open their water gates to lower the water level in the reservoirs, effecting countries downstream.
Northeastern Thailand also experienced severe flooding along the Mekong River in Nakorn Phanom Province, which borders Laos.
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