Heavy rain at the height of the monsoon is flooding large parts of northern Myanmar, destroying hundreds of homes and displacing tens of thousands of people, relief workers told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.
The Irrawaddy River, which runs through Kachin state, has been swollen by the downpours and risen above critical levels, forcing nearly 23,000 people from their homes in two townships since Tuesday.
“The water is still rising. It’s now three feet and eight inches above the critical level,” said a relief worker based in the town of Bhamo on the east bank of the Irrawaddy.
“People are still relocating,” said the worker, who declined to be identified because of fears of reprisals by the authorities for talking to the media.
About 40 km (25 miles) downstream, people in Shwegu township have also been displaced by the rising waters, residents 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 Kachin state's Chipwi township.
Officials of the military regime were working on relief operations and opening evacuation facilities, junta-backed media reported on Thursday
Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, did not respond by time of publication to phone calls from RFA seeking information on relief efforts.
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Roads blocked
Since late June, more than 10,000 people in four towns, including the state capital of Myitkyina, have been displaced by flooding after the Irrawaddy and N'mai rivers overflowed.
Houses in five villages in Myitkyina, Sumprabum and Injangyang townships have been destroyed by floods since Sunday, said one resident in Injangyang.
Further north, flooding on the Malikha river has destroyed homes in villages across three townships and severed some road links, one driver said.
"At least 200 homes along the Malikha have been destroyed by the flood. Now the Myitkyina-Putao highway is completely blocked,” said the driver, who also declined to be identified.
About 60 vehicles were stranded on the highway because of landslides, he said.
"Damage along the Putao road is worse. Some road sections are blocked due to landslides and there are no construction workers to clear it so it could take time,” he said.
“In some places, they need to find new routes.”
While some people in Kachin state have been able to return home as the huge volumes of water flow south towards central rice-growing regions, the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology warned of flooding in lower parts of the Irrawaddy basin.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.