Bago residents clean up after flooding in central Myanmar

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Residents of Bago city in central Myanmar have begun cleaning up waterlogged streets, apartment buildings and stores following floods from heavy rain on Sunday.
But as they strive to return to normalcy, many are struggling with related health issues, including diarrhea and colds.
Flooding in Myanmar caused chaos across five regions, prompting 13,000 people in Bago region alone to relocate to relief camps or Buddhist monasteries for shelter.
About 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rain fell in Myanmar over 24 hours — the highest level in nearly 60 years, according to the country’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
A dozen neighborhoods and seven villages across the region’s capital, Bago city, were inundated with water when the Bago River overflowed.
Local charitable organizations have set up more than 30 relief camps to assist those affected.
A city resident who sought temporary shelter at a flood relief center told Radio Free Asia that he is cleaning up the upper floor of his house so his family can return home, even though water remains on the lower level.
Meanwhile, sections of the Yangon-Bago highway and several villages remain submerged as of Friday.
About 40 miles from Bago, villagers living in communities along the highway are grappling with flooded fields. Farmers have reported that tens of thousands of acres of nearly ripe paddy fields in the region are submerged due to the flooding.
Flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains also inundated the Mandalay and Yangon regions, displacing residents and disrupting traffic.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.