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Sample field assessment from Thaketa and South Dagon
In Thaketa Township, the assessment found 24,000 people affected (5,162 families) with 3,000 people sheltering in seven camps, and in East Dagon Township approximately 3,450 people affected (600 households) are in critical need of assistance. A critical issue is that displaced people are being evicted from the buildings where they have sought shelter and are struggling to find adequate shelter. In both townships, the population had taken shelter in inadequate conditions without a water supply or using polluted water, had inadequate sanitation facilities and a shortage of food and basic non-food items. |
Immediate and medium-term needs
Initial assessments by CARE and partner agencies have identified the priority immediate needs as water and sanitation, food and non-food items and temporary shelter. Families have lost homes, assets, food supplies and basic household items. The destruction of housing and infrastructure has caused the displacement of families who are now living in schools, pagodas and surrounding structures, with inadequate water and sanitation facilities. Water supplies have been cut off or polluted. There is a shortage of fuel, which has affected power and water supplies. There are significant concerns about the spread of disease given the poor water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. In areas close to Yangon, the most affected areas are the poorer townships where families lived in fragile shanty towns, whereas in the Irrawaddy delta areas, rice farming, rural and coastal communities have been severely affected.
While overall statistics about damage are still being compiled, there are eight townships that have been determined to be the most severely affected. In these eight townships, it is estimated that 40-45% of households have been destroyed and 70% of households are suffering from water shortages. CARE has completed detailed assessments in the two townships close to Yangon and was able to start immediate relief delivery in response to the needs identified there. A CARE team has also deployed to some of the most densely populated areas of the delta, including the township of Pathein and surrounding regions, where an estimated 250,000 people are in need of assistance. The CARE team is conducting detailed field assessments and response operations in these severely affected communities.
Experience in other emergencies, including the recent Bangladesh cyclone, the Pakistan earthquake and the Indian ocean tsunami, have demonstrated that women and girls face new protection risks in the aftermath of disaster, and that assessments and systems need to be put in place as early as possible in the emergency response to ensure that the needs of women are appropriately met, and to ensure protection from new risks posed by the emergency. Already in Myanmar, stories are emerging of women being attacked in collective shelters as tensions increase as a result of the disaster. There is an urgent need to ensure protection measures are put in place as soon as possible.
Medium and longer-term needs
Based on the high levels of destruction of infrastructure and supplies, including rice crops and seeds, there will be very significant needs for medium- and long-term recovery spanning several years. The disaster hit one of the most important rice growing areas during planting season, destroying stored food as well as the seed supply ready for planting, and threatening the economic and food security of the disaster-affected population. The loss of housing and basic infrastructure has also left over a million people without housing and adequate water and sanitation facilities which will need to be recovered and rehabilitated over the medium and long term.
The medium and long-term priorities will be re-establishing basic infrastructure, particularly water and sanitation facilities, recovering food security of affected families, and further rehabilitation for disaster-affected communities.
