Myanmar's president called for the evacuation of low-lying areas as the Irrawaddy river threatened to breach embankments, leaving villagers with just sand-bags to hold back churning waters that have hit much of the country.
Floods from a heavy monsoon season have cut through swathes of South and Southeast Asia in recent weeks, claiming hundreds of lives and displacing millions.
Twelve of Myanmar's 14 regions have been struck, with officials saying 74 people have been killed and more than 330,000 affected -- many forced into monasteries and other makeshift shelters after their homes were inundated.
In a picture muddied by damaged communications, relief agencies said floods had receded in some northern and western areas allowing supplies of food and clean water to trickle in, although landslides were still a threat.
The centre and south are now bracing for floods as water drains through the vast Irrawaddy delta.
In Hinthada, the army helped residents prepare for floods, securing belongings inside homes and reinforcing embankments with sand bags, with villages on the other side of the barriers already submerged up to their roof-tops.
Boat driver Than Naing said this year's monsoon was the worst in living memory, as he helped ferry people across an expanse of dark water that has swallowed rice fields.
Thousands of people are still feared stranded in rugged and remote Chin State after days of rain caused flash floods and landslides that swept away homes, roads and bridges.
Concerns over food security are also mounting as the UN said more than one million acres of farmland have been flooded, devastating the staple rice crop, with more rains forecast.
Myanmar is set for a general election in November and the quasi-civilian government has been at pains to show it is reacting speedily to the floods.