Border floods – the big clean-up starts
Floodwaters in the Thai Burma border towns of Mae Sot and Myawaddy have started to fall. Residents on both sides of the border have started to clear away the debris brought by the floodwaters.
The director of the Burma Children Medical Fund, Kanchana Thornton explained to Karen News that the floods had played havoc with patients’ treatment schedules.
“We need to register patients, but can’t do it. The flood has created a backlog for us. Patients waiting to be transferred for treatment have also had to delay their trip.”
Ms Thornton said the floods had swamped Mae Tao Clinic and prevented staff from working and had stopped many patients getting to the Clinic.
“Most of our staff have had to work from home and one staff member was flooded out from her house and had to take refuge in the office.”
May Soe, a senior medic at the Mae Tao Clinic told Karen News that the floodwaters had washed through most of the Clinic’s departments.
“We had to evacuate our in-patients from the Clinic to a nearby school for a couple of days. We will assess the situation before we move them back. Now we are in the middle of cleaning the mud from the departments.”
May Soe said the Clinic’s main focus is on the wellbeing of the patients.
“We have sent the relevant staff to take care of patients housed at the school day and night.”
*Nan Paw Gay, traveling from Pa-an to the Burma town of Myawaddy and then on to Thailand phoned Karen News to say that the floodwaters had made her abandon her scheduled trip to Mae Sot.
“The road from Pa-an to Kawkriak is out – there was flooding that has stopped the traffic getting through for four days. It has been raining heavily for four days and the road won’t be able to open until it stops.”
Khun Somchai, a Mae Sot resident, told Karen News that floodwaters had swept thorugh the bottom part of his house.
“We moved most of the furniture upstairs or put things on tables. This morning the downstairs was covered in mud. It was slippery, smelly and dirty. Our water has been cut off and we had to use well water to clean the house.”
To find out how to help or make a donation to the Mae Tao Clinic go to: http://maetaoclinic.org/how-to-help
*Nan Paw Gay is an editor working with Karen News
