As weather is transitioning from summer to winter, cumulus clouds have formed in Myanmar, and we can expect gale-force winds and lightning strikes in this season.
Incidents in which houses have been damaged or destroyed by gale-force winds have been reported almost daily in the newspapers in April.
Strong winds hit parts of Myanmar from 9th to 30th April, destroying about 230 houses and some religious buildings, blowing off roofs from about 4200 houses and 75 religious buildings.
The Disaster Management Department of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement has provided over K223 million to the victims of the disaster.
In the same period, news of lightning strikes which kill cattle and people indiscriminately have been appearing in the media.
It has been found that most of the victims killed by lightning strikes were farmers and they were struck by lightning while working in the fields.
Other disasters which hit us in the monsoon season are flash floods and landslides caused by torrential rains.
A low-pressure area is forming in the Bay of Bengal, and it can intensify into a depression around 3rd May, and is expected to head towards Myanmar, according to the Myanmar Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected over some parts of our country.
When torrential rain falls, people must remain on the alert for flash floods and landslides near hilly areas and also small rivers, according to the weather bureau.
Residents living in the delta and coastal areas are urged to adhere to weather warnings and advice.
During evacuations, local authorities would evacuate their coastal communities and move to safer higher ground or emergency shelters. Of course, mass evacuation would render social distancing impossible.
Local authorities and emergency responders will have initiated their protocols for flooding and storm during this time of the COVID-19 crisis.
We should put proper measures in place to cope with the disaster in the rainy season to ensure continuous power supply and utilities of the hospitals which are critical during this time of the COVID-19 crisis.
The two situations: rainy season and the COVID-19: will be a testing time for us.
We would like to urge people to take note of the weather reports issued by the Meteorology and Hydrology Department, and contact the hotline numbers 067-3404666 and 067-3404777 in case of need.
GNLM
