Myanmar folk flee to parks amid heatwave
As the sun sets on another scorching day here, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout.
A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend inperson classes.
Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season.
Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel generators must face at least eight hours daily at the mercy of the scorching heat.
For many in the city of some eight million, relief comes only at night and outdoors with the metropolis’ parks offering natural shade and blissful breezes.
“My parents can’t stay inside their house in the afternoon. They have to go outside and sit under the shade of trees,” one Yangon resident said as she visited Inya lake on Friday.
Mya Aye, 62, said she comes to the park every day when the power goes off at 5pm.
“The weather at home is so hot that neither the children nor the elderly can stay.”
Across swathes of Myanmar’s arid heartland, day temperatures on Thursday were 3°C to 4°C higher than the April average, according to the country’s weather monitor.
In Chauk in Magway region, the temperature reached a blazing 45.9°C on Wednesday, the office said.
One man said he and his family had travelled from the northern part of the city as they could not remain at home because of the heat.
The frequent power outages only made the situation worse, he said, with homes emptying each evening.
“When there is a power blackout, everyone sits out on the street until 9pm or 10pm.”
Global temperatures hit record highs last year and the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organisation said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace, with the impact of heatwaves in the region becoming more severe.