Many survivors of Myanmar's devastating quake in March still live in leaky tents

BANGKOK — Two months after a deadly earthquake ravaged much of central and northeastern Myanmar, recovery is just inching along, with huge numbers of people living in temporary shelters while facing the heavy rainfall and strong winds of monsoon season.

The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake caused significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. The confirmed death toll from the disaster has reached 3,740, with 5,104 injured, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday.

Bodies are still being found

As the task of rebuilding grinds along, the grim work of recovering the dead is continuing.

The Myanmar Fire Services Department said on its Facebook page this week that its teams had recovered four bodies from the rubble of the collapsed buildings of the Sky Villa Condominium in Mandalay on Tuesday and Wednesday.

More than 100 bodies have been recovered from the condominium site and search operations will continue as more bodies are believed to be buried under debris, an official of the Myanmar Rescue Federation (Mandalay), which works with the firefighters, told The Associated Press on Friday. He asked not to be named because he fears arrest for speaking without authorization.

Myanmar has a major ongoing humanitarian crisis

Humanitarian needs in Myanmar have reached record levels, with 19.9 million people identified as needing assistance, and an additional 2 million in urgent need following the quake, said a report issued on May 23 by OCHA, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Myanmar already plunged into turmoil in 2021, when the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which triggered nationwide nonviolent pro-democracy protests that escalated into armed resistance and what now amounts to a civil war.

“Myanmar continues to face significant humanitarian challenges, driven by recurrent disasters, persistent conflict, and grave protection risks, with an estimated 3.5 million people displaced across the country,” OCHA said.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military government, said at a Thursday fund-raising ceremony for disaster relief that more than half a million people from 2,081 villages were affected by the quake, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported

Hundreds of roads and bridges were damaged or destroyed and more than 700 hospitals and clinics also suffered varying levels of damage, according to his figures.

Many survivors are still in inadequate temporary housing

Shelter is a major problem, even as people leave temporary camps to return home.

The official from Myanmar Rescue Federation (Mandalay) said about half of the disaster victims who were sheltering in camps have returned to temporary accommodations built on land where their homes once stood.

Aung Kyaw, who supervises recovery activities in Hmike Su ward in Mandalay’s Amarapura township, told The Associated Press on Friday that more than 150 people from his ward were still living in roadside shelters in tarpaulin tents He said they were suffering due to strong winds and constant rain for days, and urgently need metal roofing.

“I need iron sheets for a roof to build a shelter on my land. I would be satisfied just to be able to safely sleep at my house,” said Aung Kyaw, whose home was destroyed. “I don’t want to badger for anything else. Now we are just sitting in the rain."

He said the people living in temporary shelters will also likely face floods due to heavy monsoon rains in the coming months.

In Naypyitaw, the capital, government personnel have moved to modular low-cost prefabricated buildings built around the compound of the central railway station while debris is still being cleared from their damaged state housing.

In other damaged residential areas, people have completed clearing the debris on their own, but most of them are still living in tents.