Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Torrential rain in Myanmar has forced thousands to flee their homes and flooded hundreds of thousands of acres of rice paddies , media reports and aid workers say . Two weeks of heavy monsoon rain caused the flooding , which has primarily affected the Irrawaddy Delta region close to the capital Yangon . Around the port city of Pathein , 236,000 people had been affected , with 35,000 moved to temporary relief camps in schools , monasteries and churches , said Denis De Poerck , director of program operations for Save the Children in Myanmar . He said the families that had not fled were living on the upper floors of their homes and long boats were the main form of transport . The government , private benefactors and the World Food Program had provided food rations to flood victims , he added . `` What people need now is non-food items -- clothing , cooking pots and utensils , '' he told CNN by telephone from Yangon . The state-run New Light of Myanmar reported that President Thein Sein on Sunday visited Bago , another flood-hit area east of the capital , to provide assistance to some of the victims . De Poerck added that the United Nations estimated that 200,000 acres of rice paddies had been destroyed and 55,000 acres remained under water . One acre is around the size of an American football field . Myanmar often suffers from flooding during the monsoon season but in the areas assessed by Save the Children locals said the floods were the worst since 1997 . In 2008 , Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar 's southern delta region , killing 130,000 people . Kocha Olarn in Bangkok and Nay Pyi Taw in Yangon contributed to this report .
Torrential rain in Myanmar has forced thousands to flee their homes . The Irrawaddy Delta region close to the capital Yangon worst hit . Score: 6