Mizzima News

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Incessant heavy rains have inundated several houses in Laputta Town in Burma’s coastal Irrawaddy delta, forcing residents to move to higher ground, locals said.

The torrential rains, which began on Saturday and continued till Monday afternoon, have flooded several quarters including ward no. (10) and Yetaingkone village. Residents were forced to take shelter in Buddhist monasteries on higher ground.

“People from other wards are collecting food packets and supplying it to people taking shelter in the monasteries. The water has also reached our ward but it is not too high as yet,” a woman from Ward No (5) told Mizzima on Monday.

While there are no reports of casualties so far, the woman said, the victims are still unable to return home and are depending solely on the food donations by people from other wards.

Laputta township was one of the worst affected in the Irrawaddy delta, when the deadly Cyclone Nargis lashed the region in May 2008, leaving about 140,000 people dead or missing and devastating the lives of over 2.4 million people.