Millions of people across Southeast Asia are grappling with the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, which has caused widespread flooding, power outages, and infrastructure damage. The death toll has now surpassed 200, with Vietnam being the hardest hit.
In Vietnam, the number of fatalities has risen to 197. Northern Thailand has also been severely affected, with nine confirmed dead, marking the region’s worst floods in 80 years. The typhoon made landfall in Vietnam over the weekend, unleashing torrential rain that has inundated northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, leading to deadly landslides and extensive river flooding.
One Vietnamese farmer, who identified himself only as Tu, shared his plight with AFP. His 1,800 square meter peach blossom plantation was completely submerged, destroying all 400 of his trees. “It will be so hard for me to recover from this loss — I think I will lose up to $40,000 this season,” Tu lamented. “I really don’t know what to do now, I’m just waiting for the water to recede.”
The United Nations children’s agency (Unicef) reported that the typhoon damaged more than 140,000 homes across 26 provinces in Vietnam. Unicef has been providing water to homes, health centers, and schools in the most affected areas and plans to send medical and sanitation supplies to the Vietnamese government in the coming days.
The high waters have devastated over 250,000 hectares of crops and large numbers of livestock, according to Vietnam’s agriculture ministry. Farmland around Hanoi has been particularly hard hit. Commuters in parts of Hanoi waded through shin-deep floodwaters, although officials indicated that river levels in the city are gradually decreasing after reaching a 20-year high on Wednesday.
Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate their homes, and many are dealing with power outages. In one district on the outskirts of Hanoi, more than 15,000 people have been affected by the floods. Vietnamese state media reported that a landslide in the mountainous Lao Cai province killed seven people, with 11 more missing. The incident occurred on Tuesday, but communication with the area was initially cut off.
In a separate landslide in Lao Cai province, an entire village of 37 houses was destroyed, resulting in at least 42 deaths and 53 missing persons. In Cao Bang province, a landslide on Monday pushed a bus, along with several cars and motorbikes, into a stream, killing 15 people.
The Mekong River Commission issued a flood warning for Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage site in Laos, expecting the river to reach flood levels on Thursday.
In Thailand, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation confirmed nine deaths, including six from landslides in Chiang Mai province. All flights to Chiang Rai airport, located 145 kilometers northeast of Chiang Mai, have been suspended. Mae Sai district, on the border with Myanmar, is experiencing its worst floods in 80 years. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered the military to assist with relief efforts by providing boats, helicopters, and other transport.
Buddhist temples, hotels, and resorts have opened their doors to nearly 1,000 displaced people. In Myanmar, the flooding is most severe around Naypyidaw, the low-lying capital, while the town of Taungoo is also at risk from rising river levels. The state-run newspaper, Global New Light of Myanmar, reported that train services between Yangon and Mandalay have been suspended due to flooding.
Heavy monsoon rains are a yearly occurrence in Southeast Asia, but human-made climate change is intensifying weather patterns, leading to more destructive floods. A study published in July found that climate change is causing typhoons to form closer to the coast, intensify faster, and remain longer over land.
