Flooding brings misery in South Dagon

By Noe Noe Aung | Friday, 25 July 2014

The month of Waso in the Myanmar calendar is typically one of rain, falling
smack-bang in the middle of peak monsoon. But for many Yangon residents, the
Waso of 2014 will stick in the mind as one of a deluge of rain that flooded shops,
home and whole streets.
South Dagon residents
steer a homemade raft through flooded streets on July 23 following days of heavy rain that left many stranded in
their homes. (Yu Yu/The Myanmar Times)
South Dagon has been particularly badly hit. Last week, the ground floors of homes in 106
and 107 wards were completely under water. The roads turned to mud, sometimes sucking
the unwary walker ankle deep into it.
As The Myanmar Times went to print, residents said they expected their homes to remain
under water for at least several more days. Despite yards and the ground floors of houses
being submerged, people mostly remained where they were, as there was simply nowhere
else to go.
The floods started last Saturday [July 19], said Daw Pa Pa, 67, as she sat on her wooden
bedstead. A while after the heavy rain started, water rushed into my house and we
couldnt bail it out. Rain didnt stop for the next three days and we couldnt move
anywhere, we had to sit down like this all the time.
The water was at knee-length level even inside the house, she said.
Stray dogs, most of which were saved by residents, stopped their usual barking and simply
gazed at the flooded streets from wherever they had been placed above the water. Flooded
rubbish dumps released their contents out on to the stinking water.
The worst thing is the floods sink the rubbish dumps, one resident from 106 quarter said.
There is rubbish everywhere and a day ago a dead dog floated along the street. It was
such an unpleasant sight.
Kaytumadi market, which services several South Dagon quarters, was entirely flooded. The
water level in the streets around the market reached thigh-level and even waist-level in
some areas.
There are nearly 300 shops in the market. But now half are closed as there is water in
their shops. Of course, business is ruined, said Ma Theingi, a grocer at the market.
In nearby streets, young men could be seen helping school children and the elderly by
transporting them around in homemade rafts.