Disasters and emergency response
Heavy rains destroy homes and cropland in Myanmar’s north and west
More heavy rains and floods in Myanmar have forced residents from nearly 20 villages in Sagaing division to be relocated, while the government in hard-hit Rakhine state has started providing financial assistance to farmers whose fields are submerged in water. More than 1,000 people have been ...
Rice fields at risk in Western Cambodia with lack of rainfall
Rice crops in western Cambodia will die from drought if the region does not receive rain within the next month, officials said on 3 September, as a development organization urged the government to do more to assist farmers with irrigation. A delay to the beginning of ...
Race against time to clear damaged water sources
Experts are warning that unless urgent action is taken to clean water sources before the end of the monsoon rains, flood-affected communities in Rakhine State could soon face water shortages as thick deposits of mud foul the rivers, lakes and creeks that residents and farmers ...
Strongest El Niño in decades expected
One of the strongest El Niño weather patterns in more than six decades is set to impact Myanmar this year and the director of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has warned to be prepared. U Kyaw Lwin Oo gave the stark warning on 2 September, ...
Election in doubt in flood-hit Chin State
The upcoming election may be up to three months late in landslide-ravaged Chin State. While the official nationwide poll is just 66 days away, the Union Election Commission said it is mulling a request to delay voting in Chin State due to lingering effect of the floods. Keep ...
Farmers wait for help to start replanting after floods
Pwinbyu farmers say they are still waiting for the government’s pledged assistance to resuscitate fields that were decimated by floods in July and August. About 35 percent of the fields have been damaged and will not be able to be replanted for some time, said U ...
Drought batters 13 provinces
Amid what some meteorologists have dubbed a “Godzilla-like El Niño”, drought conditions during Cambodia’s scheduled monsoon season have significantly worsened from what last year were termed historically bad levels, a new report from the Ministry of Agriculture shows. According to the report, which was signed by ...
Food shortages still plague flood victims
Four weeks after President U Thein Sein declared a national state of emergency, the disaster relief effort is still struggling to feed all the flood victims. Community leaders say gaps in the coordination of aid are to blame. More than 451,000 disaster-affected people in states and regions ...
Phnom Penh battles blazes
A rash of fires ripped through the capital on 24 and 25 August, with the most devastating one destroying 36 houses across a packed slum next to the Monivong bridge in the southern district of Chbar Ampov. The Chbar Ampov fire began to burn at about ...
Civil society groups to cooperate on flood rehabilitation efforts
Around 50 organizations involved in relief efforts in flood-stricken parts of Myanmar have agreed to coordinate their efforts toward flood rehabilitation programs in the coming months, according to attendees of a conference held in Sittwe over the weekend. Keep reading ...