Myanmar’s Rakhine and Chin states hit with deadly floods

AFP Rescuers in Myanmar warned of rising water levels on Saturday as deadly floods swept across the country’s western Rakhine and Chin states. At least three people have been killed in the deluge, according to the latest toll released Thursday by the humanitarian services of the Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group controlling the affected territory. “Our concern is what happens if the water levels rise any further, especially when it comes to evacuating the elderly, the sick, pregnant people and those living in low-lying areas,” local rescuer Bo Aung Thein told AFP in She Ta Lay village in Kyauktaw Township. Gripped by civil war since a military coup in 2021, Myanmar has faced a litany of transport and communication difficulties, and more than a third of the population suffers from food insecurity, according to the United Nations. “Our village has around 200 houses, and only one or two left unsubmerged. The rest have been flooded. All the paddy fields are submerged too,” said May Thein Yaine, 49, a resident of Kyauk Kyat village. “We have little kids at home. I’m terrified that if the water rises any higher again at night, we’ll have nowhere left to shelter and no way to escape,” said 24-year-old Thuzar Aye.