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Myanmar Battles Rising Floodwaters after Landslide Kills 52

Agence France-Presse

   MAWLAMYINE, MYANMAR - Myanmar troops and emergency responders scrambled
   to provide aid in flood-hit parts of the country Sunday after rising
   waters forced residents to flee by boat and a landslide killed at least
   52 people.

   Every year monsoon rains hammer Myanmar and other countries across
   Southeast Asia, submerging homes, displacing residents and triggering
   landslides.

   But this season's deluge has tested disaster response after a fatal
   landslide on Friday in southeastern Mon state was followed by heavy
   flooding that reached the roofs of houses and treetops in nearby towns.

   Hundreds of soldiers, firefighters and local rescue workers were still
   pulling bodies and vehicles out of the muddy wreckage of Paung township
   on Sunday.

   "The latest death toll we have from the landslide in Mon state was 52,"
   Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told AFP.

   As the rainy season reaches its peak, the country's armed forces are
   pitching in and have readied helicopters to deliver supplies.

   "Access to affected regions is still good. Our ground forces can reach
   the areas so far," Zaw Min Tun said.

   Heavy rains pounded other parts of Mon, Karen and Kachin states,
   flooding roads and destroying bridges that crumbled under the weight of
   the downpour.

   But the bulk of the relief effort is focused on hard-hit Mon, which
   sits on the coast of the Andaman sea.

   About two-thirds of the state's Ye township remained flooded, an
   administrator said, as drone footage showed only the tops of houses,
   tree branches and satellite dishes poking above the waters.

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