Myanmar Braces for More Flooding as International aid Flows in

Yangon: International aid poured into Myanmar today following weeks of heavy monsoon flooding that aid agencies say is set to extend further across the low-lying southern delta region.

An estimated 88 people have died and some 330,000 have been displaced so far in the flooding that began in late June.

Last week the floods intensified to engulf vast tracts of the country after a lashing from the remnants of Cyclone Komen.

"We're very concerned about secondary flooding that is likely going to happen in the delta region (as more water flows downstream)," said Pierre Peron, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The World Food Programme, the UN Agency that provides food assistance, said the delta region would experience flooding in three to five days.

The southwest area where the Ayeyarwady and other rivers fork into a delta leading to the sea is home to about 6.2 million people, 12% of Myanmar's population.

Myanmar's president urged people to leave the region yesterday. Only roofs in some villages remained visible above the water.

The government has declared four areas of the country disaster zones and has appealed for international assistance.

China dispatched a convoy of trucks with relief supplies from Yunnan province across the border into eastern Myanmar today, its embassy in Yangon said in a statement.

India's embassy said New Delhi had sent military aircraft to deliver supplies to Kalay in the west and Mandalay in central Myanmar in a mission that began yesterday. The European Union and United States also pledged funds for the relief effort.