Flood victims in Kyauktaw Twsp need emergency aid

By Admin 16 Jul 2026

DMG Newsroom

16 July 2026, Kyauktaw

Nearly the entire village of Panphechaung in the Yoe Creek area of Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, was submerged by recent flooding, destroying stored paddy and damaging the homes of local residents and internally displaced people (IDPs).

Livestock, including chickens and pigs, were also lost in the flooding, while residents said they are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

"There are some who can manage, but those without money have nothing left to eat. Even the clothes in some homes were swept away by the floodwaters. Most people here have no food. Day labourers cannot eat if they have no work, and many come to me asking for food. Some families are grateful if they can get enough rice for just one meal. There are many poor people in this village, which is why we urgently need large-scale assistance," U Maung Phyu Shwe, the administrator of Panphechaung Village, told DMG.

Floodwaters also inundated homes in several other villages in the Yoe Creek area of Kyauktaw Township, including Wahtaung, Kansauk, Taungmin Kalar, Taungpauk, Kanthonesink, Lamuletnet, Nichay and Autlar.

Located along the Yangon-Sittwe highway, Panphechaung Village is prone to flooding whenever continuous heavy rain causes the Yoe Creek to overflow.

"The situation is very difficult. People have neither shelter nor food. Because of the flooding, traders from other villages cannot come here to sell goods. My paddy barn, where I stored my harvest, was swept away by the floodwaters. The powerful current from the creek destroyed it," a local woman said.

The flooding destroyed numerous paddy barns and damaged large areas of paddy fields in Panphechaung Village.

Continuous heavy rainfall since 4 July has triggered severe flooding across Arakan State, leaving more than 100,000 people, including IDPs, in need of emergency food, shelter, clean drinking water and medicine.

"We are prioritizing vulnerable IDPs by providing emergency dry food supplies. Since drinking water ponds have been flooded, villagers will face shortages of clean water after the floodwaters recede. We plan to distribute drinking water once conditions improve. During our relief operations, we have seen several villages where residents are unable to cook because of the flooding," said Ko Kyaw Win Tun, vice chairman of the Ponnagyun Youth Association.

Panphechaung Village hosts a large number of IDPs whose living conditions have been severely affected by the flooding.

Although the United League of Arakan has been carrying out rescue and relief operations across Arakan State, some communities have yet to receive assistance because of the scale of the disaster.

Continuous heavy rainfall has caused flooding in Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Maungdaw, Taungup, Ramree and Gwa townships in Arakan State, as well as Paletwa Township in Chin State, leaving thousands of flood-affected residents in need of humanitarian assistance.