VZCZCXRO9940
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHGO #1783/01 3420857
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 080857Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5499
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1263
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0064
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 4410
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1880
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3656
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 7162
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 0567
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 4751
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0990
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0994
RUDKIA/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0758
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2967
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0630
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001783 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA, TREASURY FOR OASIA:AJEWELL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: GOB TRIES TO WHITEWASH EXTENSIVE FLOOD DAMAGE 
 
REF: RANGOON 1542 
 
RANGOON 00001783  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 1. (SBU) Summary: Closely-held GOB reports confirm that 
severe flash floods in central Burma in October damaged over 
200,000 acres in Mandalay and Sagaing Divisions and Shan 
State.  Despite unofficial reports of significant human 
deaths and crop losses, the GOB has not officially 
acknowledged that the floods caused any damage.  Officials 
ordered villagers in some towns to clean up all traces of the 
flood, and prohibited affected residents from discussing the 
disaster with strangers.  The flood had a devastating effect, 
destroying not only crops already in the field, but also 
stores of food and seed, and will have both immediate and 
long term effects on food availability in the region, 
possibly leading to future shortages. End summary. 
 
 2. (SBU) Embassy Rangoon's agricultural specialist traveled 
to Mandalay Division and Shan State on November 24 to 30 to 
assess the damage caused by flash floods that occurred 
October 8-10 (reftel).  While official sources have not 
released any public information on the flood, Embassy's 
agricultural specialist was able to obtain access to 
unreleased Ministry of Agriculture reports that confirm that 
the floods damaged approximately 200,000 acres, with 2,000 
acres totally destroyed.  Water from the heavy rains and 
overflowing rivers combined with broken dams, causing water 
levels to rise five feet over flood stage in some areas.  In 
Kyaukse, Mandalay Division, the birthplace of regime ruler 
Than Shwe, water reached to rooftops and destroyed many of 
the town's food shops and stores of animal feed and 
fertilizer.  Authorities in Kyaukse warned residents not to 
talk to strangers about the flooding, and ordered them to 
white wash to cover mud and water marks on buildings. 
 
 3. (SBU) Traders with whom we spoke reported losses of 147 
metric tons (MT) of rice and 241 MT of beans and pulses. 
Only 20 MT were salvageable.  The floods swept away several 
smaller villages, and residents reported that they saw human, 
livestock, and even elephant corpses floating in the water. 
Large sections of main roads in Mandalay and 
Sagaing Divisions and Shan State were washed out, and many 
paddy fields and banana plantations were destroyed, making 
dramatic changes in the landscape. 
 
 4. (SBU) A few local businesses and religious organizations 
provided immediate relief to affected villagers, while the 
GOB provided minimal assistance with some evacuations and a 
few relief camps.  International NGOs World Vision and Bridge 
To Asia helped rehabilitate damage in their current areas of 
operation, but officials did not allow them to extend 
assistance to other locations.  Almost a month after the 
floods, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation officials 
requested targeted assistance from FAO and WFP. 
Representatives made a quick assessment, and WFP provided 
funds for a Food for Work program to clear a clogged canal in 
Mandalay Division.   FAO requested some modest funding 
assistance from the Bangkok regional office.  When WFP 
offered further assistance, GOB officials said that the USDA, 
the government's political mass member group, or the Myanmar 
Red Cross would provide it, and that no further outside 
assistance was needed. 
 
 5. (SBU)  Sagaing Division, one of the primary producing 
areas for onions, was inundated.  The price of onions, a 
Burmese staple, had already risen by 400 percent in the last 
two months; the flooding caused prices to soar even higher. 
Tomato crops grown in the famous floating gardens of Inle 
Lake in Shan State were almost entirely destroyed by rising 
waters.  Officials did not release excess water from Inle 
Lake during the flooding, for fear of bursting Moe Pye Dam 
 
RANGOON 00001783  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
below the lake, so water levels at Inle Lake reached their 
highest point in years.  Many aquaculture farms flooded, 
sending fish into the streets.  In Shan State, Shwe-Nyaung 
Township suffered the most damage, when waters flooded a 
marketplace where traders had stored all their wares in 
anticipation of the next day's weekly market day.  Water 
remained in the township for over a week, while some other 
areas of Shan State were flooded for up to three weeks.  One 
rice shop we visited reported it had lost USD 100,000 worth 
of goods.  Water-soaked rice, fit only for animal 
consumption, was selling for less than 50 cents per bag, but 
still had few takers. 
 
 6. (SBU) Contacts at the Mandalay YMCA told emboff that 
authorities gave only one day's warning before opening some 
major dams in the region, exacerbating flooding in 
agricultural lands.  Since residents of the dry zone have 
little prior experience with flooding, and little trust in 
the authorities, few responded to the announcements of dam 
openings in time.  According to our contacts, some villages 
and farmland in Mandalay and Sagaing Divisions were still 
flooded in late November. Public infrastructure, including 
bridges, dams, and railroad tracks, also suffered significant 
flood damage. 
 
 7. (SBU) COMMENT: The GOB's whitewashing of the flood's 
damage will have long-term consequences.  The regime refuses 
to report how many people lost their lives, but we know that 
a great many lost livestock and/or crops in the field.  Many 
of the stored grains and pulses, seeds, and fertilizers were 
also lost or badly damaged.  The people affected need 
immediate help to rebuild infrastructure and replace lost 
crops, as well as long term assistance to replace inputs for 
the next plating season and get through the lean period 
between harvests.  Flood-driven inflation will squeeze 
farmers even more.  Unfortunately, rather than ask for help, 
the GOB remains in denial and seeks to maintain a policy of 
self- reliance, adding yet another burden to the load already 
borne by Burma's rural poor.  End comment. 
VILLAROSA