"Although water levels have fallen in Bago Region after four days of flooding, nearly 30,000 residents are still sheltering in relief camps and urgently need assistance, according to relief volunteers. On Tuesday, the military regime announced that more than 27,000 flood victims in Bago had entered 47 relief camps since Saturday (October 7). More heavy rain was forecast for Bago on Wednesday and Thursday. Flood levels in low-lying areas initially rose above 1.5 meters but had fallen to 0.9 meters on Wednesday. A local volunteer said Bago City’s west side was still submerged but floodwater had receded from other urban areas. “Although the flooding has subsided, we are not letting people return home. Their houses need to be cleaned before they go back,” a volunteer told The Irrawaddy. Bago Region suffers seasonal flooding but the current crisis is the worst in 60 years, submerging 80 percent of Bago City and leaving at least one resident dead, according to locals. “We have to travel by boat in some places. People can’t walk in some areas although the flood level has fallen,” said U Tun Myat Nyunt, head of the Wonyan Hmue rescue foundation. He said that around 20,000 people in three wards that had never suffered flooding before – Mhaw Kan, Ponnar Su, and Socialist – are still in need of assistance. “We are delivering drinking water and food. Currently, drinking water sources are scarce,” U Tun Myat Nyunt told The Irrawaddy. To the southwest, flood victims in Hlegu Township on the outskirts of Yangon Region remain in relief camps as they wait for floods to recede, according to camp volunteers. “Food and medicine supplies are urgently needed for people in Bago and Hlegu affected by the floods,” the Myanmar Red Cross Society said. Meanwhile Bago residents said that villages near the city are still submerged and require emergency assistance..."