Flood submerged 495 acres of farmlands, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District, Karen State

Thursday, November 10, 2011

On August 3-4th, 2011 heavy flooding submerged 495 acres of farmland and at least 1,000 houses were under floodwaters in 5 villages in Bilin Township, Doo Tha Htoo (Thaton) District, Karen State. 

After 7 days of flooding, the rice in the fields turned red and yellow and then died. The farmers could not replant their rice because farming season is over. So, instead of planting rice, they decided to plant sesame, beans and other vegetables to try and generate some food and income for their household.

Over 525 local people’s livelihoods have been negatively impacted in Doo That Htoo District.  Given that 1 acre of farmland yields approximately 100-140 tins of dry rice, this is a huge loss of food and income for local villagers who are still recovering from last year’s drought.  Yet there had not been any assistance from authority nor outsiders reported by a local staff of Karen Environmental and Social Network.

A local villager said:
"Currently, the villagers are now helping  each other by sharing food and goods they have with flood victims. Some people borrowed food from each other but most of them have to buy rice from town for their daily survival. Heavy flood destroyed numbers of local's people houses, farmlands and the floods impacts local people’s livelihood but there were no assistances from the authority."

KESAN local staff also reported that one farmer died in a nearby village called Kwe Lay due to the flooding around his farm hut suddenly and he could not escape. The flooding also killed the livestock of villagers.

Another villager stated:
“These villages are have already flooded once in July but were not so badly destroyed. This time it is much worse and the floods have destroyed lots of farmland and as a result the villagers will face lots problems for their daily survival.”

Given the unpredictability of the climate over the past few years, farmers in Karen State and elsewhere in Burma will be facing serious food security and livelihood issues if the present trend continues.  There is an urgent need for climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness among local rural communities in order to help increase their resiliency against more climate uncertainty. 

In Oct 2011, at least 215  people have been killed and  300 people are missing in the disaster caused by torrential rains in the town of Pakokku in Magwe Division in central Burma.  As well, on the same month a landslide swept away a number of houses, killing at least 50 people in Arakan State.  Thuleikawwei