Dozens of residents evacuated as heavy rains trigger flooding in urban Kyaukphyu 

By DMG 17 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
17 August 2022, Kyaukphyu 

Some urban residential areas in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu have reportedly been inundated with floodwaters, with residents being evacuated to safer locations due to continuous rains since midday on August 16. 

Downtown Kyaukphyu wards such as Ceditaung, Sarpyin, Wunhtan, Thabanchaung, Thinbaw Seikhaung and Sabelmway have been submerged by floodwaters, and some 80 residents from Thabanchaung ward were evacuated to safer locations, said U Japan Gyi, chairman of the Laywati social organisation, a local charity in Kyaukphyu. 

“About 80 people from Thabanchaung ward, which is a low-lying area, were evacuated to No. 4 middle school. Now the water is down to about 3 feet. No casualties were reported in the flood and local charities are providing food to the flood victims,” he added. 

The inundation of residential areas in Kyaukphyu is due to the lack of a proper drainage system in the town, said Ko Than Hlaing, the administrator of Ceditaung ward. 

“It started raining around 12:00 p.m. and the residential areas began to be flooded at about 1 p.m. Residential areas are not flooded due to the rise of the river, but because there is no drainage system,” he said. “The water rose more than 4 feet, and in our neighbourhood, there is now about 3 feet of water left. All the schools were closed due to the flood.” 

Ko Than Hlaing continued that several shops and motorbikes were damaged due to the flooding. 

Kyaukphyu residents also blamed this week’s flooding on the government’s failure to adequately excavate drains to improve water flow in the town.