Damages caused by Cyclone Mocha total US$2.24 billion: World Bank

By Admin 12 Aug 2023

DMG Newsroom
12 August 2023, Sittwe

The cost of direct damages to buildings, infrastructure and agriculture from Cyclone Mocha in Myanmar’s Arakan and Chin states and Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions is estimated at US$2.24 billion, the World Bank said in a report.

This amount is equivalent to approximately 3.4 percent of Myanmar’s GDP in 2021, the World Bank said. The estimation includes damages due to wind, flooding, storm surge and landslides to residential and non-residential buildings and their contents, as well as damages to the agriculture and infrastructure sectors.

It is estimated that more than 70 percent of the total damages occurred in Arakan State, according to the report.

Ongoing conflict has exacerbated the impacts of the cyclone and is likely to impact the response and recovery process, the report added.

Three months after the storm, local people still need relief supplies including basic foodstuffs, social organisations say.

“People did not receive emergency relief supplies in the aftermath of the storm, and they received little assistance for rehabilitation. International agencies also faced restrictions,” said former political prisoner and Sittwe resident U Khaing Kaung San.

The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar in a July 21 report said only 20 percent of storm victims had received help for rehabilitation at that time.

Daw Khin Khin Thein from Thae Khon Village in Pauktaw Township said: “Villagers have run out of food. They have to borrow from others, and can’t pay it back. As they can’t resume their fishing business, they have no income.”

Thae Khon Village was hit hard by Cyclone Mocha. The cyclone left many people homeless in Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Pauktaw townships. Many have not yet been able to rebuild their houses.