Min Aung Hlaing told officials from his regime during a meeting of the Natural Disaster Management Committee in Naypyidaw on Tuesday that he was caught “unaware” as heavy rains brought on by the remnants of Typhoon Yagi caused floods and landslides, which killed 226 people, regime media reported on Wednesday.

“Nobody can avoid natural disasters. This recent incident might be the worst loss [of life] in central Myanmar in history and it is necessary to take lessons from the event and address many issues,” said Min Aung Hlaing, who expressed his “sadness” at the number of people killed and the 77 still missing. 

DVB data states that as of Thursday, a total of 337 bodies have been recovered from 12 townships nationwide. Fifty-nine townships were impacted by flooding in Ayeyarwady, Naypyidaw, Bago, Mandalay, Magway regions, as well as Karenni, Karen, Mon and Shan states.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has documented that 631,000 people have been affected by flooding across nine states and regions in Myanmar. 

The military regime in Naypyidaw and the civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG) have both requested humanitarian aid deliveries. The Special Advisory Council of Myanmar (SAC-M), a group of international experts, have urged neighboring countries to channel aid to civil society and anti-coup resistance groups on-the-ground in disaster-affected communities. 

Regime media reported that 163,573 flood survivors, displaced from their homes, have been evacuated to temporary relief centers. Over 234,535 people have taken shelter with relatives in communities not affected by floods or landslides. At least 158,343 homes have been flooded with 1,915 homes destroyed and 201 damaged. 

Min Aung Hlaing paid a visit to Bagan, the ancient temple complex and U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site located 111 miles (178 km) southwest of Mandalay, on Wednesday. Two ancient temples in Old Bagan had reportedly collapsed due to the heavy rainfall on Sept. 11. 

“We knew how strong Typhoon Yagi was and that there would be rain in Shan State two days after [it] hit Vietnam but we were unaware of [how] unprecedented the heavy rains [would be nationwide],” said Min Aung Hlaing. 

Survivors in disaster-affected communities told local media that regime officials were unprepared and have been incapable of carrying out emergency relief efforts despite warnings of heavy rainfall from its Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, as well as independent meteorologists, since Sept. 9.

Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun accused independent media of ignoring the military’s flood relief efforts. He also accused the diaspora of sharing misinformation and rumors online to cause panic. 

Min Aung Hlaing ordered his regime to get relief and reconstruction works underway immediately and have them completed over the next six months. He instructed aid and rehabilitation be provided to families of those killed and injured.