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Myanmar: Floods Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) Myanmar: Floods Emergency Appeal n° MDRMM006 Glide n° FL-2015-000080-MMR & FL-2015-000089-MMR Date of issue: 11 August 2015 Date of disaster: 30 July 2015 Point of contact in IFRC Myanmar Office: Point of contact in Myanmar Red Cross Society: Udaya Regmi U Khin Maung Hla Head of Delegation Secretary General [email protected] Email: [email protected] Operation manager (IFRC): Myanmar Red Cross Society operational contact: Richard Casagrande, U Maung Maung Khin DM Advisor, IFRC Myanmar Director of Disaster Management Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Expected timeframe: 12 Months Expected end date: 31 August 2016 Operation budget: CHF 3,891,747 DREF allocated: CHF 298,478 Number of people affected: Approximately 1 million Number of people to be assisted: 58,000 people (11,600 people (of whom 440,000 are in the three targeted households) states of Chin, Magway and Sagaing) Host National Society presence (n° of volunteers, staff, branches): Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) has 30,000 active volunteers and 321 staff in its headquarters and 334 branches. Red Cross Red Crescent Movement partners actively involved in the operation (if available and relevant): The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and a number of Partner National Societies are supporting MRCS in its response. The Partner National Societies supporting the response in-country are American Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, Singapore Red Cross, Thai Red Cross and Qatar Red Crescent. Other partner organizations actively involved in the operation: Government ministries and agencies: Including the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health, Emergency Operations Center Technical clusters: Shelter/NFI/CCCM, WASH & Health UN agencies: Including UN OCHA, WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA International organizations & NGOs: Including IOM, AHA Centre, Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children. A. Situation analysis Description of the disaster Since mid-July, widespread loss of life, injury, displacement of people from their homes, damage to houses, agriculture and livelihoods have occurred in several parts of Myanmar due to floods and landslides. As access to communities improves, communications networks are restored enabling information on damage and needs to come in. According to data sourced by the Myanmar Red Cross Society from its branches in affected regions, combined with information from government sources and UNOCHA, as of 9 August, at least 90 people had died and some 1 million people across 12 of 14 regions in Myanmar affected by the floods. Significant damage to livelihoods especially agriculture and livestock is reported throughout the flood affected areas. Some areas have been cut off as there has been widespread damage to transportation structure such as roads and bridges, communications with many areas have been disrupted and thousands of acres of farmland have been inundated. It should be noted that roads are continuously being cleared by the Government and more areas are becoming accessible. P a g e | 2 On 30 July, the landfall of Cyclone Komen in Bangladesh, which has been sitting off the coast of Western Myanmar for several days, worsened the situation worsened, especially in the north western parts of Myanmar, bringing high winds and further heavy rain. The flooding is spread over a large area mainly in the northwest, western and south-western regions. Chin, Rakhine, Sagaing and Magway are among the worst affected states and regions. It is reported that the floodwaters are swelling the countries major river systems, and are now threatening regions further south including Ayeyarwarddy, Bago East, Bago West and Yangon. It was reported on 7 August that water levels in Ayeyarwarddy River are rising rapidly and in some locations flowing above its warning level. Local authorities and residents are reported to be stacking sandbags in some townships to support river embankments. More than 10,000 people have been evacuated in Ayeyarwarddy as the flood waters continue to flow southwards. There is a growing threat of livelihoods in Ayeyarwarddy region being destroyed by the incoming flood waters as the areas in the region could remain flooded for a relatively longer duration. Possibility of further floods in the Ayeyarwarddy region in the coming weeks cannot be denied. On 31 July, the President of Myanmar issued a statement declaring natural disaster zones in Chin and Rakhine states as well as Sagaing and Magway regions. The government of Myanmar has called for international assistance and activated the National Emergency Operation Center (EOC). It is reported that the key roads in Rakhine are not fully accessible due to significant damage by landslides and breakage of bridges. Roads in Magway region are reported to be accessible. Roads from Yangon to Ayeyarwarddy region remain accessible in spite of rising waters in the Delta. There are ongoing efforts by the Government to repair damaged roads to areas in Sagaing region. Some key roads in Chin state are accessible for small vehicles whereas several other roads are still inaccessible. The needs of the affected population and areas include food, water and sanitation, access to health care, temporary shelter. Restoring livelihoods will be another priority need especially as the scale of damage to livelihoods is reported to be high. Information about flood water damage to farm lands is not available; however from reports from UNOCHA such damage is likely to disrupt planting season and regular harvests. The Government of Myanmar has called for international assistance. Such assistance has started pouring in and the government has confirmed receiving assistance from China, India and Thailand. Several other countries including New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Norway, United States have also committed assistance to the Government. Summary of the current response In response to the floods, the authorities, local civil society organizations, international non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), supported by its International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners, are responding to the situation - carrying out evacuations and rescue operations, as well as providing relief and other assistance to those affected. IFRC has activated a disaster relief emergency fund (DREF) for CHF 298,478 to support 35,000 persons with immediately needed relief items. An emergency appeal is now being launched to support further relief and recovery operations. ICRC has taken the lead in supporting MRCS with the relief operations in Rakhine State. A Movement Statement has been issued explaining how Movement partners have come together in a joined up approach to support MRCS in responding. The IFRC Appeal will focus on the three ‘disaster zone’ areas of Sagaing, Magway, and Chin States; while ICRC will continue to respond in Rakhine State, together with MRCS. Overview of Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) As an auxiliary to the government – formed on a legal base that date backs to 1959 - in disaster management and community health, MRCS provides significant support in responding to disasters, from small to large sized ones. It has constantly been the first responder to disasters such as cyclones, flooding, strong winds and provided urgent help to affected population of such disasters. Following Cyclone Nargis in 2008, MRCS supported 100,000 households in 13 townships with relief and recovery efforts. With its network of 330 branches, and over 400 staff and 30,000 active volunteers, MRCS is the largest national humanitarian organization in Myanmar. MRCS is able to provide its services and assistance in many remote and hard- to-reach parts of the country due to its extended physical presence and active network of volunteers. With the support of the IFRC, ICRC and PNS, MRCS has recently updated its standard operating procedures (SOPs) on disaster response to make them relevant to the fast-changing context of the country and the National Society. It has activated its contingency plan to deal with medium scale disasters. MRCS has also established an Emergency Operation Center with support of the American Red Cross and the IFRC which has been activated for the current floods response. MRCS has pre-positioned disaster relief stocks in 28 warehouses spread throughout the country. P a g e | 3 Over 540 MRCS volunteers including members of 84 national disaster response teams (NDRT) and emergency response teams (ERT) are actively responding in the various affected states and regions. The volunteers are helping to evacuate people, providing critical life-saving assistance including first-aid, distributing relief items and carrying out needs assessments in affected townships. A disaster management coordinator from MRCS national headquarters has been deployed to Kalay township in Sagaing state, which is one of the most affected areas to support the local branch. Four assessment teams have been sent to most affected areas to gather information about short-term and longer-term needs. MRCS is coordinating with various national ministries and participating in meetings organized by the government departments for the flood response. A liaison officer from MRCS is currently operating from the government National
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