Not less than 12 people died and tens of thousands got displaced in Myanmar after monsoon rains struck the country causing floods across the region, officials said.

“Among the 12 people killed, three are soldiers who were swept away by floodwaters during a rescue operation in northeastern Mon state,” Director-General Ko Ko Naing of the Disaster Management Department said on Thursday.

“Heavy rains are still hampering us from reaching many of those affected places,” he told Anadolu Agency.

As per the estimates 148,386 people are as of now taking refuge in 327 temporary camps installed in the flood-affected regions.

Almost 28,000 are believed to be still in their flooded homes due to the fact that they are unable to escape to shelters or are trying to opt to stay with the hope that water levels may come down soon, local Myanma Alinn newspaper reports.

“Our house is just beside the river bank so we’re trying to move somewhere higher,” 54-year-old Ohn Myint said.

Win Kyu, who is a farmer as well as a fisherman of age 40, is very much concerned about his fields that now are covered entirely by water.

“We experienced flooding like this back in 2000. This year is the worst since then,” he said.

“If this goes on, people will struggle to make a living,” Kyu added.

About 12,140 hectares (30,000 acres) of farmland have been entirely destroyed due to the week-long flooding, reports as per the government.

The region in the country has been facing such floods in at least seven regions since last week as almost all rivers have exceeded their danger levels by several feet height and already 36 dams and reservoirs are overflowing due to heavy monsoon rains.

Severe flooding was experienced by Myanmar in the year 2015 when around 100 people died as per the reports and over 330,000 were forced to stay away from their homes.

Three people who died during the rescue attempt were soldiers.

The minister blamed the ongoing heavy monsoon rains and climate change for the recent flooding.

“I just want to alert the people that climate is changing all over the world and we all have to be careful about it,” Mr. Kyaw Swa said.

Mr. Kyaw Swa said the government had already issued its warning by posting it on Facebook the day soon after the flood had arrived.

“The announcement said residents living near rivers and in low-lying areas should immediately leave their homes, as the water had exceeded the danger level,” he said. “But our house was already flooded.”

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