Maungdaw: The UNHCR in Maungdaw on the Burma border distributed relief yesterday to flood victims in two flood shelters in the town, said local residents and officials.
A flood affected woman said, "We received at least five items from the UN organization, including rice, oil, mosquito nets, blankets, and cooking pots. Many victims went there and received relief from the organization."
Nearly 300 flood victims from urban areas of Maungdaw, primarily Bomu and Wra Thet Wards, received aid from the UNHCR yesterday, a source said.
The UNHCR and the local government have opened two shelters in a government high school and a middle school in Maungdaw.
An official from Maungdaw said, "We opened the shelters early in the morning on Tuesday after some wards were flooded. The water touched nearly five feet in some urban areas of Maungdaw because of incessant rains."
Local sources said, some houses were damaged and some goods such as pots, clothes, and food were washed away by the flood waters.
The rural areas of Maungdaw Township have been the most severely affected, with 28 people reported killed and many houses damaged. Because roads and bridges have also been damaged in the flood, it is difficult getting relief aid to the area quickly.
The UNHCR also has plans to distribute aid and open shelters in Buthidaung, which has been even harder hit by floods, but the plan has not been implemented as of yesterday.
In Buthidaung, all urban areas, including hospitals, markets, ration stores, and many government buildings have been flooded till the level of 10 feet. Patients from the hospital were moved to higher ground in a middle school after the floods.
According to a local source, the patients are still being housed and treated in the school.
Eighteen people in Buthidaung have been killed in the floods and landslides, but an accurate number of casualties are not yet available. Loss of property has also been high in Buthidaung and many people have been left homeless.
Many rural areas of Buthidaung, particularly in northern Buthidaung near the Bangladesh border, are still underwater after the Mayu River flooded. Many people in the Taungbazar area have been moved to higher ground to take shelter from the flood, said an official from Buthidaung.
