A report issued Saturday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs cited Myanmar disaster officials estimating that more than 156,000 people had been affected by flooding.

Four western regions have been declared disaster zones after heavy floods , caused by monsoon rains, left more than 27 people dead.

Heavy rains are normal in monsoon season, but many people in Myanmar - also known as Burma - told the BBC that the rains were particularly strong in recent weeks.

Thousands of people are sheltering in Buddhist monasteries, but one report said people from the Rohingya Muslim minority were turned away from some shelters.

The Burma Times said security forces turned away Rohingya Muslims from abandoned schools and community centres in Rakhine.

More than half a million acres of rice paddy fields have been flooded, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation said.

AP Photo