Myanmar Floods Force 25,000 Into Relief Camps

Articles, Infrastructure, Volume 03, Volumes
STOP PRESS : A picture made available on 31 July 2013 shows a car submerged on a street outside an apartment building at a residential area in the Thai-Myanmar border district of Mae Sot, Tak province, northern Thailand, 30 July 2013. Severe flooding in north-western Thailand has brought the million-US dollar daily trade with Myanmar to a halt at the border crossing near the town of Mae Sot, officials said. The rainfall caused the Moei River to burst its banks, inundating Mae Sot and Myawadi, the town on the Myanmar side of the border. The Mae Sot border crossing is a major artery for trade between Thailand and Myanmar, accounting for about 300 million baht (1 million US dollars) a day in goods. | photo: thejakartaglobe.com
STOP PRESS : A picture made available on 31 July 2013 shows a car submerged on a street outside an apartment building at a residential area in the Thai-Myanmar border district of Mae Sot, Tak province, northern Thailand, 30 July 2013. Severe flooding in north-western Thailand has brought the million-US dollar daily trade with Myanmar to a halt at the border crossing near the town of Mae Sot, officials said. The rainfall caused the Moei River to burst its banks, inundating Mae Sot and Myawadi, the town on the Myanmar side of the border. The Mae Sot border crossing is a major artery for trade between Thailand and Myanmar, accounting for about 300 million baht (1 million US dollars) a day in goods. | photo: thejakartaglobe.com

Yangon: Nearly 25,000 people have been evacuated to makeshift camps after floods ravaged eastern Myanmar, an official said Wednesday, as relief teams struggled to reach remote areas inundated by water. Flood waters have risen dramatically after several days of heavy rain in Karen State forcing thousands to flee to nearly 80 relief camps, Chum Hre, director of the social welfare, relief and resettlement department told AFP. “Altogether 24,499 flood victims have been evacuated” in Karen State, he said, adding hundreds more had been displaced in Mon and Rakhine states. “It is very difficult to reach some of the disaster–hit places because of the bad weather and landslides,” he said, adding that helicopters had been deployed. more…

Real Estate in Myanmar
The shortage of property in Myanmar’s capital Yangon and the rising price trends for newly built residential and commercial real estate are prompting more and more foreign property developers to set foot in the country. There is a huge undersupply of business office space. In late 2012, there was about 60,000 sq m of office space in Yangon, less than some individual office buildings in Bangkok. Early 2013, office rentals in Yangon has gone up to US$ 85 / sq mtr per month.