By JALOON HTAW – School building and houses have been destroyed due to heavy rainfall and strong winds yesterday morning in Belu Island, Chaung Zone Township, Mon State.
“It was at eight a.m. in the morning when the rain fell heavily and the wind blew so strong that metal roofs blew off from a middle school [building]. Some houses were destroyed by fallen trees. The village head is trying to rebuild them [the houses] now,” explained a Belu Island villager.
According to one villager from Kaw Mupon village on Belu Island, one fishing boat has disappeared. “One fishing boat that carried a father and a son has not yet been found,” said the Kaw Mupon villager. One Moulmein resident reported that buildings and trees have also collapsed in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State.
“There was no electricity due to the cable stands falling down. Small stress in front of an agricultural garden at Zeikyo fall; lots of trees all fell onto the roads. The rainfall and the wind blew so heavily that we couldn’t even use umbrellas yesterday, ” the Moulmein resident added.
An announcement on a web page operated by Tun Lwin, the retired director-general of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (Myanmar Climate Change Watch) warned that, “there is a flood warning on May 9, 2011 that will bring strong tides and wind blowing at the rate of 30-45 miles per hour in Mon State and Tenasserim Division both on and off-shore due to low pressure areas in the Bay of Mottama, Mon State and Karen State.
“ The announcement further specifies that residents need to “take special care to avoid possible dangers from strong winds and heavy rainfall combined, thunder and lighting, sudden flooding, and earthquakes in Pegu Division, Mon State, and Karen State.”
Today’s announcement also proclaimed “low wind pressure and thick rain clouds forming over the Bay of Bengal, Tenasserim Division, Mon State, and Karen State.”
The weather announcement again tells residents to beware of the combination of heavy rain fall, landslides, and strong winds, with the possibility of big waves flooding in from the sea.
