Heavy rain caused landslide and huge destruction in Indawgyi and Hopin in Moehnyin Township on July 27 and 28, according to local sources.

Heavy rain in the early morning on July 27 triggered floods in Thayat creek near Hopin Township and as a result, a motor vehicle and a motorcycle were swept away by the floods. Besides, five wards in the low lying areas of the township were flooded.

In Indawgyi Region, mountain torrents from Nantmon River, Khaungtone River near Maing Naung village and Nantsin river flooded farmlands in the area and mud covered the farmland. Similarly, the northern wall of Maing Naung village BEHS also collapsed, according to Maing Naung village’s elder U Soe.

“I’m in my 60s and I’ve never seen this kind of flooding in my life. About a 10 miles distance was covered with water. Sinkhaung hill collapsed and embankment of Nantsin River was broken and so, all the land was covered with water. The flooded area was about 285 acres. Most of the farmlands were destroyed,” said U Soe.

“Rain is still pouring down till now. As the mountain from the east was collapsed, farmland between Inthar and Hepu area which was more than 100 acres were covered with sand, pebbles and mud. Flooding is still continued.  In my opinion, people cut trees from the mountain as much as they desire and it led to heavy rain. Farmers are the ones who have to suffer most. Most of the farmlands have just finished planting,” said a town’s elder from Nantmon.

Roads are inaccessible due to landslides, and there were piles of mud and rubbish on the roads between Nantmon and Hopin, Nantmon and Moehnyin.

According to the Moehnyin based Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH), it got rainfall of 2.28 inches on July 27 and 0.28 inches on July 28.

An official from DMH said that heavy rain was due to a depression from Bay of Bengal. It seems to have heavy rain along the valley. Estimated rainfall may reach over 3 inches. We had heavy rain in east and west of Nantmon hill. This phenomena isn’t ordinary. It is due to climate change.  Rain will continue in coming days in Kachin State due to storm in South China.

On July 23, 2022, areas around Hepu village got heavy rain within an hour and it led to landslide, torrent rain and destroyed more than 60 acres of farmland.