Heavy rains have lashed parts of earthquake-hit Myanmar, complicating relief efforts and raising the risk of disease as the death toll from the powerful quakes that struck the country on March 28 rose to at least 3,471.Aid workers in the hard-hit city of Mandalay, near the epicentre of the earthquake, said on Sunday that rains and winds hit tent camps in the area overnight and in the morning, soaking survivors and their belongings.
More bouts of rain were expected later in the day, while temperatures were also forecast to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).“The weather is very extreme,” Tun Tun, a specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, told the AFP news agency.Aid agencies have warned the combination of unseasonable rains and extreme heat could cause outbreaks of disease, including cholera, among quake survivors, who are camping in the open.
