Myanmar floods leave at least 47 dead

Heavy rains forecast for the next few days could worsen already dire flooding in large parts of Myanmar.

Floods and landslides destroyed more than 20,000 homes and affected some 200,000 people in the Sagaing and Mandalay regions as well as in the Kachin and Shan states, local media reported.

Heavy rains are normal in monsoon season, but many people in Myanmar – also known as Burma – told the BBC that the rains were particularly strong in recent weeks. They said seven townships had been devastated by flooding.

Tha Hla Swe, the president of the Myanmar Red Cross Society, said his volunteers were having trouble getting to areas that needed help.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has visited one of the country’s many flood-afflicted areas, raising her profile amid a national disaster that could have consequences in this November’s general election.

Myanmar’s military junta was sharply criticized domestically and internationally in 2008 for its woeful response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis that killed 130,000 people.