The World Bank has carried out a survey to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Mocha that struck Myanmar and particularly Rakhine State over several days starting 14 May.
The report, issued last week, notes that given the fragile and conflict-affected situation with limited access in Myanmar, the World Bank has adopted the Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) methodology to estimate damages arising from Cyclone Mocha. GRADE is a remote, desktop analysis to estimate damage to capital stock.
The report summarizes the results of the GRADE1 conducted to assess damages following the impact of extremely severe cyclonic storm Mocha in Myanmar during May 2023.
The report notes that the median estimate of total direct damage caused by Cyclone Mocha is $2.24 billion, equivalent to 3.4% of Myanmar’s GDP in 2021. This includes damages to residential and non-residential buildings and contents, agriculture, and infrastructure.
Based on damages estimated from reported impacts, the residential housing sector is the hardest hit, followed by non-residential buildings and infrastructure, and then agriculture.
Over 80% of the damage occurred in Rakhine and Sagaing. Rakhine was the worst affected, with approximately 1.2 million people across seven districts and 17 townships impacted. Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across Rakhine State, were devastated by the storm, leading to many deaths.
The cyclone caused significant damage to five States or Regions in the west and northwestern part of the country, namely Rakhine, Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay and Chin. The primary source of damage from Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State was wind while in Magway and Sagaing regions there was also significant flooding.
Infrastructure across the affected regions suffered extensive damage, including health facilities, schools, communication networks, and transportation systems.
The report notes that the ongoing conflict in several regions, particularly in Rakhine State, has exacerbated the impacts of the cyclone and is likely to impact the response and recovery process.
The cost of direct damage to buildings, infrastructure, and agriculture from Cyclone Mocha is estimated at $2.24 billion. This is equivalent to approximately 3.4% of Myanmar’s 2021 GDP. The estimate includes damage due to wind, flooding, storm surge and landslides to residential and non-residential buildings (including building contents), as well as damage to agriculture and infrastructure sector.
The greatest damage occurred in Rakhine State and Sagaing Region, which together account for nearly 84% of the total accumulated damage. Rakhine, as the state that was hit hardest, experienced total damage that amounted to almost 30% of its total capital stock.
