Myanmar: Cyclone Mocha Situation Report No.1 (As of 14:00 25 May 2023)

This more comprehensive product now replaces the daily Flash Updates which were previously being issued by OCHA Myanmar on Cyclone Mocha. This Sit Rep is produced by OCHA in collaboration with the seven operating clusters and their sub-working groups in Myanmar. The humanitarian response section is not necessarily reflective of all humanitarian interventions undertaken on the ground but rather those voluntarily reported by partners. The next Sit Rep will be issued on or around 30 May 2023.

HIGHLIGHTS

• With the monsoon looming, the humanitarian community is in a race against time to respond to a shelter, water, sanitation and food emergency in areas most heavily affected by Cyclone Mocha that smashed Myanmar on 14 May.
• Aid organizations have been delivering assistance where they have stocks and approval, but more supplies, wider access and increased funding are urgently needed to deliver an operation at-scale and meet needs across all communities.
• Based on discussions in Nay Pyi Taw, a detailed two-week distribution plan has been submitted for approval, along with transportation plans for the movement of stocks within Myanmar and from outside the country.
• The humanitarian community has launched a Flash Appeal seeking $333 million to provide assistance to 1.6 million people affected by Cyclone Mocha. Immediate funding is crucial to support vulnerable populations in the hardest-hit zones across Rakhine, Chin, Magway, Sagaing, and Kachin.
• Shelter and other relief items are being distributed where access is possible with 7,700 households reached so far across 8 townships in Rakhine, while cash assistance for shelter repairs has been distributed in the Northwest.
• Distribution of drinking water and hygiene kits has also continued. More than 30,000 litres of drinking water have been distributed to affected villages and displacement camps and sites in Rakhine over the past few days, while more than 4,500 affected households in at least six townships in Chin and Magway are already being provided with hygiene kits. Increased cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) have already been recorded.
• Immediate assistance is needed to provide food to vulnerable populations. So far since the cyclone, at least 107,000 people have been reached with food support by WFP across all communities in Rakhine alone. In Rakhine in total, more than 2,000 metric tons of rice and mixed food commodities and 111 metric tons of high energy biscuits have been distributed to food insecure people since the cyclone.
• Distributions have also been underway in the Northwest. The agriculture and fishery sectors have been badly hit, causing a severe loss of assets crucial for livelihoods and posing a longer-term threat to food security.
• Health services are being provided, but damaged infrastructure poses challenges. Many township hospital buildings, IDP camp clinics, and rural health centers have been impacted, Mobile health teams are operating where they can.
• Explosive ordnance (EO), loss of civil documentation, mental health, overcrowding, and separation of children from caregivers are significant protection issues. Partners are delivering EO safety messages, conducting reunifications, establishing child-friendly spaces, providing awareness-raising messages, and offering psychosocial support wherever possible. Continued efforts are needed to address these protection immediate safety and wellbeing concerns.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

Extremely Severe Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Myanmar’s Rakhine state on 14 May packing winds of 250 kmph as it approached the coast, making it one of the strongest cyclones on record to hit the country. The cyclone has devastated coastal areas, leaving hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable people without a roof over their heads with the monsoon just weeks away. The cyclone also brough heavy damage as it advanced inland bringing strong wind, heavy rain and flooding across areas in Chin, Sagaing, Magway and Kachin.

An estimated 7.9 million people experienced winds in excess of 90km/h, with 3.4 million facing destructive winds over 120 km/h. The strength of shelters and pre-existing vulnerabilities are emerging as the key determining factors in the severity of impact and needs. Barely a home has escaped damage in the state capital Sittwe and in Rathedaung where the impact of the cyclone was strongest. An estimated 85 per cent of the shelters in IDP camps and sites are thought to have been destroyed. Many of those most severely affected are now living in temporary sites, in monasteries or in the open. A massive debris clearance and rebuilding effort has been underway across the impact zone since the cyclone with local authorities working to gradually reconnect telecommunications and electricity services particularly in the state capital Sittwe. Schools have been heavily affected, and efforts are underway to have learning facilities available for the start of the school term in June. Health facilities have also been badly damaged.

In the Northwest, severe flooding affected more than 120,000 people across Chin, Sagaing, and Magway, with an estimated 150 villages and wards across 20 townships impacted. Infrastructure has been damaged and destroyed while floods have washed away animals, crops and personal belongings. Over 300 community learning centers were partially or totally damaged, with roofs ripped off and walls broken.

Cyclone Mocha also significantly impacted the agriculture and fishery sectors across all affected areas and communities, causing a severe loss of assets crucial for livelihoods. Furthermore, the cyclone exacerbated pre-existing humanitarian needs arising from years of conflict, displacement, statelessness, the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic instability. Post-cyclone, markets have reopened but with surging prices for basic shelter materials and food, straining the already impoverished population. Local communities have begun clearing debris and cleaning up, and telecommunications are gradually stabilizing.

Despite access issues, ongoing conflict, and communications difficulties, humanitarian partners with access have scaled-up their support, providing critical and lifesaving assistance to affected communities in Rakhine, Chin, Magway and Sagaing, as well as Kachin.