Parks offer heatwave relief during Yangon backouts
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, 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 in-person 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Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season.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 about 8 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 late on Friday.
She said her parents warn her about going outside, urging her to cover up.
“I feel this year is far hotter than last year,” she added.
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,” she said.
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 Burmese Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
In Chauk in Magway region, the temperature reached a blazing 45.9°C on Wednesday, the department said.
Back at Inya Lake, one man said that he and his family had traveled from the northern part of Yangon as they could not remain at home because of the heat.
“Even if we sit outside, the sun’s rays are very hot and we can’t sit anywhere,” he said.
“After 10am in the morning, it’s getting hotter and we can’t stand it,” he said, adding that older people were particularly affected.
“Elderly people are not going outside because of the heat and they just stay inside. After the sun is gone, they come out,” he said.
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,” he said.
Global temperatures hit record highs last year and the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace, with the effect of heatwaves in the region becoming more severe.