Southeast Asia heat shuts schools, boosts power demand, as Myanmar hits 48 degrees - South China Morning Post

The Philippines announced it will halt in-person classes at public schools, while Thai power demand rose to a record, as the heatwave gripping southern Asia continued to take its toll.

The temperature in metropolitan Manila soared to 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday, according to the nation’s weather forecaster. That beat the previous all-time high recorded in May 1915, ABS-CBN News reported. The Department of Education responded to the sweltering weather, and a Jeepney transport strike across the country, by closing public schools on Monday and Tuesday.

In Thailand, power demand reached a record 36,356 megawatts late on Saturday, the Ministry of Energy said. The country’s northern and northeastern regions are expected to be the hottest, with a high of 44 degrees recorded in some areas on Sunday.

Power lines suspended above a street during high temperatures in Bangkok. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has been bracing for hotter-than-normal days due to the El Nino weather pattern that’s forecast to last until June. Photographer: Bloomberg

Bangkok issued extreme heat warnings last week as its index rose to “very dangerous” levels. About 30 people have died due to the high temperatures this year in Thailand, compared with 37 heat-linked fatalities in all of 2023, according to government data.

Myanmar recorded its hottest ever April temperature, authorities said on Monday.

The mercury hit 48.2 degrees in the town of Chauk in central Myanmar’s Magway region on Sunday, according to a statement from the country’s weather office, the highest temperature seen anywhere in Myanmar in April since records began 56 years ago.

A woman walks with a cold drink under an umbrella along a street on a hot day in Yangon. Myanmar recorded its hottest ever April temperature of 48.2 degrees Celsius. Photo: AFP

A Bangladeshi court ordered a nationwide shutdown of schools on Monday, the day after the government sent millions of children back to class despite searing temperatures.

Bangladesh follows the Sunday-Thursday Islamic work week. The order directs schools to remain closed for an estimated 32 million students until the coming Sunday.

The government had imposed a weeklong national school closure beginning April 21 as the heatwave persisted, but lifted the order over the weekend.

Classes had resumed in Dhaka on Sunday, with anxious relatives accompanying their children to the school gates.

Average temperatures in the capital Dhaka over the past week have been 4–5 degrees higher than the 30-year average for the same period.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Children’s Fund warned that more than 243 million children across East Asia and the Pacific are at risk of heat-related illnesses and death, as the region braces for an unusually hot summer.

A man showers with a hosepipe during hot weather in Manila on Sunday. The Philippines will suspend in-person classes in all public schools for two days due to extreme heat. Photo: AFP

The prolonged heatwave already forced the Philippines to close some schools earlier this month, prompting a return to remote learning that became the norm during Covid, while the government urged people to save electricity as power plants were forced to shut down.

A provincial government in the main Luzon island will implement a four-day work week through July to mitigate the impact of high temperatures on its employees and the public.

The nation’s heat index, which measures the temperature felt by individuals as it takes humidity into account, is forecast to reach as high as 46 degrees on Monday in Manila, the weather agency said.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

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2024-04-29 08:02:06Z
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