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What happened, where and when?
Monsoon rains in Myanmar caused severe flooding of many rivers and waterways across the country. Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) began responding on 30 June 2024 when heavy rains in northern Myanmar, started from Kachin state, caused rivers, including Ayeyarwady river, to overflow, displacing people and damaging 45 wards and 29 villages.
By 1 July 2024, MRCS reported that the Ayeyarwady River in Myitkyina rose over 1.3 meters (4.2 feet) above its danger level, flooding low- lying areas. Families already displaced by conflict in the Leon area faced even greater challenges. On 7 July, water levels in the Ayeyarwady, Chindwin, and smaller rivers continued rising to dangerous levels, affecting Kachin, Mandalay, and Sagaing regions. By 11 July, floods had spread to other areas, displacing more than 31,000 people and causing reported deaths in Sagaing region and Kachin state, though conflicting information made the exact numbers unclear.
By late July 2024, flooding worsened in Sagaing and Magway regions due to overflows from major rivers, damaging farmlands and forcing many people to flee their homes. Water levels in rivers like the Ayeyarwady, Sittoung, and Bago rose above danger levels, causing widespread flooding in Kayin, Mon, Bago, and Ayeyarwady regions. In the southeast, the flooding affected nearly 154,000 people in Kayah, Kayin and Mon states, as well as Bago and Tanintharyi regions. On 29 July, flooding in Yangon's Taikkyi and Kungyangon townships displaced over 12,000 people, with many seeking shelter in monasteries.
Heavy rains were exacerbated by Typhoon Gaemi, which hit Taiwan on 25 July 2024, bringing additional cloud cover and rainfall to Myanmar. By early August, river levels continued to rise, threatening communities in central and lower Myanmar, including the Ayeyarwady delta, Rakhine, Mon, Tanintharyi, Yangon, and Bago regions. The flooding caused extensive damage to homes, farmland, and infrastructure, leaving thousands of families in urgent need of assistance.
By mid-August, floodwaters had receded in most parts of upper Myanmar; however, some areas in Bago remained flooded as rainfall moved further south. The extent of flooding varied over time, yet certain regions remained inundated for prolonged periods. The most affected states were Ayeyarwady, Rakhine and Tanintharyi as of 1 July 2024; Ayeyarwady, Sagaing and Bago as of 12 August 2024 and from 16 to 30 September.
Since 9 September, heavy rains from the monsoon season and remnants of Typhoon Yagi exacerbated flooding incidents across the country, which was already severely affected by earlier floods. While Central Myanmar remained the hardest hit, the targeted areas also experienced significant impacts.
The second wave of flooding in Myanmar impacted over 1 million people nationwide. By the end of October 2024, most affected communities had largely returned to their homes. (Reference: UNHCR Flash Update on Flooding in Myanmar, 27 October 2024)
Essential services became non-functional, increasing security risks for returnees. Additionally, the destruction of road infrastructure in Mon has disrupted connectivity and the transportation of goods between Yangon and the southern regions, particularly Kayin and Tanintharyi. In Ayeyarwady, the situation in Rakhine led to more displaced people arriving in the region. This has added pressure on resources and living costs, especially as flood-damaged roads made it harder to transport goods and supplies.
In Bago, flooding caused the collapse of at least four bridges. By the end of July, floodwaters also affected the Yangon-Mandalay Highway and disrupted railway routes in Bago. While this road infrastructure was repaired and restored, the damage caused delay in aid delivery and increased transportation costs.
Myanmar is expected to enter the dry season from March to May. In 2024, Chauk town in Magway recorded the highest temperature in the country, reaching a staggering 48.2°C on 28 April, making it one of the hottest places on Earth at the time. Additionally, several other cities in Myanmar were ranked among the top 15 hottest locations globally in April 2024. (Myanmar's Enduring Polycrisis: Four Years into a Tumultuous Journey. UNDP January 2025)
These extreme temperatures are part of a broader polycrisis in Myanmar, where overlapping challenges such as political instability, economic downturn, conflict, and climate-induced disasters have severely impacted livelihoods and resilience.