Heavy seasonal rains, augmented by Cyclone Komen, led to serious flooding and landslides that killed dozens of people and affected more than 200,000in the country this year, reports Mizzima. The deluge was a wake-up call, a reminder that Myanmar could be better prepared to tackle natural disasters, whether storms and cyclones, or the threat posed by lying on a fault line that makes the threat of earthquakes ever too present.
To find out how the country responded to this disaster and how well prepared it is for any future calamities, Mizzima met and interviewed Assistant Director Win Ohnmar of the Relief and Resettlement Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, who talked about the disaster management courses they run and finding volunteers to educate rural people on natural disasters.