26 April 2026 By Hsu Yee
Severe winds and heavy rain have caused significant damage to a displacement camp in Myanmar’s Kachin State, leaving dozens of families in urgent need of shelter repairs.
The storm, which lasted for nearly an hour on the night of April 25, battered the St. Theresa IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp located within the sugar mill compound in Namti, Mogaung Township.
According to local reports and the Lawa Parish Youth group, the destruction includes a prayer hall, a pre-school, and approximately 20 residential longhouses.
“The wind ripped the roofs off many of the newer structures built just this past summer,” a local resident told MPA. “However, the older buildings from last year are so badly damaged that repairing them will cost almost as much as building new ones. Thankfully, no casualties have been reported so far.”
The camp primarily houses displaced members of the Lawa Catholic community. While the exact number of residents remains undisclosed for security reasons, the scale of the damage is visible.
“In addition to the residential units, a convent building and several kitchen and generator rooms were hit,” the resident added. “People are currently trying to patch up what they can with available materials.”
Community leaders have indicated that external assistance and construction supplies are urgently required to rebuild the shelters before the monsoon season intensifies.
The region has seen an increase in temporary settlements over recent years due to ongoing regional instability, leaving vulnerable populations at the mercy of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
