Over 3,000 villagers leave homes in Pauktaw, Myebon to escape incoming storm

By Admin 10 May 2023

DMG Newsroom
10 May 2023, Sittwe

Some 3,400 villagers from nine coastal villages in Arakan State’s Pauktaw and Myebon townships have evacuated their homes in response to an impending storm currently brewing in the Bay of Bengal.

Around 2,000 residents from Thae Khon Village in Pauktaw Township, and over 400 residents from Ngapyi Island in Pauktaw Township have left for Pauktaw town, nearby villages and the Arakan State capital Sittwe. More than 1,000 residents from some six villages in Myebon Township have also left for Minbya town and other villages.

Thaekhin Village administrator U Sein Hla Oo said: “Only a few villagers are left in the village, and they are also preparing to leave for safer places.”

The village is home to some 350 households with 2,000 people. A storm in October of last year triggered floods that damaged some 60 houses in the village.

Ko Oo Hla Tun from Thayet Taw Village on Ngapyi Island, who has taken shelter in Kyein Kwe Maw Village, said: “Villagers from three villages on the island have left their homes because of the [impending] storm. Around 300 villagers have come here. Some 100 others have fled to nearby villages and Sittwe. Only a few men are left at the villages.”

Ma Phyu Phyu from Nga Man Ye Village in Myebon, who is taking shelter in Yan Taing Village of Minbya Township, said: “All of us left our homes. Some have brought food along with them. Some haven’t. We heard some host villages are counting the evacuees to supply food for them.”

Arakan State fire services department chief U Than Htike said the department has prepared search and rescue teams, cyclone shelters, food supplies and drinking water in Arakan State’s 17 townships.

“Since we heard about the storm report, we have prepared search and rescue teams and food supplies. We have also filled fire engines with freshwater. And we have also prepared cyclone shelters, and to use monasteries and schools as cyclone shelters,” he said.

There are 54 cyclone shelters in Kyaukphyu, Manaung, Taungup, Sittwe, Pauktaw and Gwa townships, and six more are under construction. According to junta-controlled newspapers, the regime has prepared 33 fibre boats, over 5,000 life jackets and food supplies for around 9,000 households in Arakan State.

The storm in the southeast of Bay of Bengal is expected to become a cyclone on Thursday morning, according to a report from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology on Wednesday. The cyclone is expected to further intensify on Friday.