Rains Lanslide in Rakhine State Burma

A flash floods Rescue workers were scrambling to provide aid to tens of thousands left homeless in western Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh Thursday after flash floods and landslides killed 100 people. At least 46 were left dead as bridges and homes were damaged after record rainfall of more than 13 inches (33 centimetres) Wednesday in parts of Rakhine State in military-ruled Myanmar, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. Two days continuous raining here for two days more than 500 people are homeless or in dilapidated conditions with thin sheets of blue plastic, are in state of shambles wondering what to do next. Lots of people are living in the compounds of the temples lobby.

Torrential rain led to the collapse about halfway along the road on the approach to the Tawgaunggyi tunnel, blocking the 16-mile (26 kilometre) highway from about 11 p.m. on Sunday until 4 p.m. today. The 660-feet (200-metre) tunnel passes under a section of the Mayu mountains and was built by the British.

“The rain was too heavy that night [Sunday] and it’s been raining since early yesterday evening,” a Buthidaung resident told Mizzima. “The access road to the tunnel … had an earthen base so it was eroded by this torrential rain. It’s been raining today for the whole day too.” A total of about 30 trucks were stranded on the highway at the either end of the tunnel until 4 p.m. today.

In Bangladesh, 55 people were killed on Wednesday after the worst rains in decades struck a day earlier, officials said, forcing rescuers to battle blocked roads and floods to get aid to remote communities hit by landslides.