SE Asia battles floods, landslides as death toll passes 200
By AFP
September 11, 2024
Typhoon Yagi smashed into Vietnam at the weekend, bringing a colossal deluge that has triggered severe flooding and landslides - Copyright AFP/File JACK GUEZ
Tran Thi Minh Ha with Montira Rungjirajittranon in Bangkok
Millions of people across Southeast Asia struggled Thursday with flooded homes, power cuts and wrecked infrastructure after Typhoon Yagi swept through the region, as the death toll passed 200.
In worst-hit Vietnam the fatalities rose to 197, with eight confirmed dead in northern Thailand — where one district is suffering its worst floods in 80 years.
Yagi smashed into Vietnam at the weekend, bringing a colossal deluge of rain that has inundated a swathe of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering deadly landslides and widespread river flooding.
One farmer told AFP his entire 1,800 square metre peach blossom plantation was 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,” the farmer, who gave his name only as Tu, told AFP.
“I really don’t know what to do now, I’m just waiting for the water to recede.”
– Communications cut off –
The high waters have devastated more than 250,000 hectares of crops and huge numbers of livestock, Vietnam’s agriculture ministry said, with farmland around Hanoi hit hard.
Commuters in parts of the Vietnamese capital trudged to work through shin-deep brown floodwaters, though officials said river levels in the city are slowly falling after hitting a 20-year high on Wednesday.
Thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes, while others are struggling with power cuts, and in one badly hit district on the outskirts of Hanoi, more than 15,000 people have been affected by the floods.
Vietnamese state media said a landslide in mountainous Lao Cai province killed seven people with left 11 missing.
The incident happened on Tuesday but details have only just got through because communication with the area was cut off, officials told state media.
This comes in addition to a separate landslide in the same province that annihilated an entire village of 37 houses, killing at least 34 people with 46 still unaccounted for.
– Luang Prabang warning –
The Mekong River Commission, the international body overseeing the crucial waterway, issued a flood warning on Thursday for the historic Laotian city of Luang Prabang.
The Mekong is expected to hit flood levels in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage site, on Thursday, the commission said in a bulletin.
In Thailand the death toll has risen to eight, with four more deaths reported from a landslide in Chiang Mai province, according to provincial governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn.
Further north, Mae Sai district on the border with Myanmar is suffering its worst floods in 80 years, Suttipong Juljarern, a senior interior ministry official said in a statement.
The Thai government has mobilised the military to help relief efforts, deploying three helicopters to carry out an aerial survey of the situation.
Buddhist temples, along with hotels and resorts, have opened their doors to accommodate almost 1,000 people flooded out of their homes, the government said.
Flooding in Myanmar is most severe around the junta’s sprawling low-lying capital Naypyidaw, while the town of Taungoo is also threatened by rising river levels.
The Global New Light of Myanmar, the state-run newspaper, said train services on the main line between Yangon and Mandalay were suspended because some sections were flooded.
Heavy monsoon rains lash Southeast Asia every year, but human-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Climate change is causing typhoons to form closer to the coast, intensify faster and stay longer over land, according to a study published in July.
burs-pdw/hmn
By AFP
September 11, 2024
Typhoon Yagi smashed into Vietnam at the weekend, bringing a colossal deluge that has triggered severe flooding and landslides - Copyright AFP/File JACK GUEZ
Tran Thi Minh Ha with Montira Rungjirajittranon in Bangkok
Millions of people across Southeast Asia struggled Thursday with flooded homes, power cuts and wrecked infrastructure after Typhoon Yagi swept through the region, as the death toll passed 200.
In worst-hit Vietnam the fatalities rose to 197, with eight confirmed dead in northern Thailand — where one district is suffering its worst floods in 80 years.
Yagi smashed into Vietnam at the weekend, bringing a colossal deluge of rain that has inundated a swathe of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering deadly landslides and widespread river flooding.
One farmer told AFP his entire 1,800 square metre peach blossom plantation was 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,” the farmer, who gave his name only as Tu, told AFP.
“I really don’t know what to do now, I’m just waiting for the water to recede.”
– Communications cut off –
The high waters have devastated more than 250,000 hectares of crops and huge numbers of livestock, Vietnam’s agriculture ministry said, with farmland around Hanoi hit hard.
Commuters in parts of the Vietnamese capital trudged to work through shin-deep brown floodwaters, though officials said river levels in the city are slowly falling after hitting a 20-year high on Wednesday.
Thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes, while others are struggling with power cuts, and in one badly hit district on the outskirts of Hanoi, more than 15,000 people have been affected by the floods.
Vietnamese state media said a landslide in mountainous Lao Cai province killed seven people with left 11 missing.
The incident happened on Tuesday but details have only just got through because communication with the area was cut off, officials told state media.
This comes in addition to a separate landslide in the same province that annihilated an entire village of 37 houses, killing at least 34 people with 46 still unaccounted for.
– Luang Prabang warning –
The Mekong River Commission, the international body overseeing the crucial waterway, issued a flood warning on Thursday for the historic Laotian city of Luang Prabang.
The Mekong is expected to hit flood levels in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage site, on Thursday, the commission said in a bulletin.
In Thailand the death toll has risen to eight, with four more deaths reported from a landslide in Chiang Mai province, according to provincial governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn.
Further north, Mae Sai district on the border with Myanmar is suffering its worst floods in 80 years, Suttipong Juljarern, a senior interior ministry official said in a statement.
The Thai government has mobilised the military to help relief efforts, deploying three helicopters to carry out an aerial survey of the situation.
Buddhist temples, along with hotels and resorts, have opened their doors to accommodate almost 1,000 people flooded out of their homes, the government said.
Flooding in Myanmar is most severe around the junta’s sprawling low-lying capital Naypyidaw, while the town of Taungoo is also threatened by rising river levels.
The Global New Light of Myanmar, the state-run newspaper, said train services on the main line between Yangon and Mandalay were suspended because some sections were flooded.
Heavy monsoon rains lash Southeast Asia every year, but human-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Climate change is causing typhoons to form closer to the coast, intensify faster and stay longer over land, according to a study published in July.
burs-pdw/hmn
Agence France-Presse
September 11, 2024
Homes in the Thai Nguyen area are partially submerged in the severe flooding triggered by Typhoon Yagi (Huu Hao/AFP)
Residents of Hanoi waded through waist-deep water Wednesday as river levels hit a 20-year high and the toll from the strongest typhoon in decades passed 150, with neighboring nations also enduring deadly flooding and landslides.
Typhoon Yagi hit Vietnam at the weekend bringing winds in excess of 149 kilometers (92 miles) per hour and a deluge of rain that has also brought destructive floods to northern areas of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
The Red River in Hanoi reached its highest level in 20 years on Wednesday, forcing residents to trudge through waist-deep brown water as they retrieved possessions from flooded homes.
Others fashioned makeshift boats from whatever materials they could find.
"This was the worst flooding I have witnessed," said Nguyen Tran Van, 41, who has lived near the Red River in the Vietnamese capital for 15 years.
"I didn't think the water would rise as quick as it did. I moved because if the water had risen just a bit higher, it would have been very difficult for us to leave," Van told AFP.
A landslide smashed into the remote mountain village of Lang Nu in Lao Cai province, levelling it to a flat expanse of mud and rocks, strewn with debris and laced by streams.
State media said at least 30 people had been killed in the village, with another 65 still missing.
Villagers laid dead bodies on the ground, some in makeshift coffins, some wrapped in cloth, while police with picks and shovels dug through the dirt in search of more victims.
Vietnamese state media said the toll from Yagi -- the strongest storm to hit northern Vietnam in 30 years -- had risen to 155 across the country, with 141 missing.
It was not clear whether that total includes victims of Tuesday's landslide, where access remained difficult and internet was cut off, reports said.
- Worst floods since 2008 -
Mai Van Khiem, head of the national weather bureau, told state media that the water level in the Red River in Hanoi was at its highest since 2004.
He warned of serious widespread flooding in the provinces surrounding the capital in the days to come.
Police, soldiers and volunteers helped hundreds of residents along the banks of the swollen river in Hanoi to evacuate their homes in the early hours as the water level rose rapidly.
A police official in Hanoi, refusing to be named, said officers were going on foot or by boat to check every house along the river.
"All residents must leave," he said. "We are bringing them to public buildings turned into temporary shelters or they can stay with relatives. There has been so much rain and the water is rising quickly."
On Tuesday images showed people stranded on rooftops and victims posted desperate pleas for help on social media, while 59,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Yen Bai province.
- Region-wide impact -
In neighboring Laos, authorities evacuated 300 people from 17 villages in northern Luang Namtha province, deputy district chief Sivilai Pankaew told AFP.
He said the high-speed Laos-China railway was not affected by the floods.
In the historic city of Luang Prabang -- a world heritage site and major tourist destination -- houses and shops were inundated, Lao Post reported.
State media said at least one person has been killed and images showed rescuers working in murky brown flood waters.
Thai authorities said four people were killed in the kingdom's northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and the army has been deployed to help around 9,000 flood-hit families.
In Myanmar, residents and local media said flooding knocked out power and telephone lines in the town of Tachileik, in eastern Shan state where further heavy rain was forecast.
Further south, hundreds of residents of the Myanmar border trade hub of Myawaddy left their homes to take shelter in schools and monasteries on higher ground as flood waters rose, a resident of the town, which sits on the border with Thailand, told AFP.
Southeast Asia experiences annual monsoon rains, but human-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Typhoons in the region are forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.
September 11, 2024
Homes in the Thai Nguyen area are partially submerged in the severe flooding triggered by Typhoon Yagi (Huu Hao/AFP)
Residents of Hanoi waded through waist-deep water Wednesday as river levels hit a 20-year high and the toll from the strongest typhoon in decades passed 150, with neighboring nations also enduring deadly flooding and landslides.
Typhoon Yagi hit Vietnam at the weekend bringing winds in excess of 149 kilometers (92 miles) per hour and a deluge of rain that has also brought destructive floods to northern areas of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
The Red River in Hanoi reached its highest level in 20 years on Wednesday, forcing residents to trudge through waist-deep brown water as they retrieved possessions from flooded homes.
Others fashioned makeshift boats from whatever materials they could find.
"This was the worst flooding I have witnessed," said Nguyen Tran Van, 41, who has lived near the Red River in the Vietnamese capital for 15 years.
"I didn't think the water would rise as quick as it did. I moved because if the water had risen just a bit higher, it would have been very difficult for us to leave," Van told AFP.
A landslide smashed into the remote mountain village of Lang Nu in Lao Cai province, levelling it to a flat expanse of mud and rocks, strewn with debris and laced by streams.
State media said at least 30 people had been killed in the village, with another 65 still missing.
Villagers laid dead bodies on the ground, some in makeshift coffins, some wrapped in cloth, while police with picks and shovels dug through the dirt in search of more victims.
Vietnamese state media said the toll from Yagi -- the strongest storm to hit northern Vietnam in 30 years -- had risen to 155 across the country, with 141 missing.
It was not clear whether that total includes victims of Tuesday's landslide, where access remained difficult and internet was cut off, reports said.
- Worst floods since 2008 -
Mai Van Khiem, head of the national weather bureau, told state media that the water level in the Red River in Hanoi was at its highest since 2004.
He warned of serious widespread flooding in the provinces surrounding the capital in the days to come.
Police, soldiers and volunteers helped hundreds of residents along the banks of the swollen river in Hanoi to evacuate their homes in the early hours as the water level rose rapidly.
A police official in Hanoi, refusing to be named, said officers were going on foot or by boat to check every house along the river.
"All residents must leave," he said. "We are bringing them to public buildings turned into temporary shelters or they can stay with relatives. There has been so much rain and the water is rising quickly."
On Tuesday images showed people stranded on rooftops and victims posted desperate pleas for help on social media, while 59,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Yen Bai province.
- Region-wide impact -
In neighboring Laos, authorities evacuated 300 people from 17 villages in northern Luang Namtha province, deputy district chief Sivilai Pankaew told AFP.
He said the high-speed Laos-China railway was not affected by the floods.
In the historic city of Luang Prabang -- a world heritage site and major tourist destination -- houses and shops were inundated, Lao Post reported.
State media said at least one person has been killed and images showed rescuers working in murky brown flood waters.
Thai authorities said four people were killed in the kingdom's northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and the army has been deployed to help around 9,000 flood-hit families.
In Myanmar, residents and local media said flooding knocked out power and telephone lines in the town of Tachileik, in eastern Shan state where further heavy rain was forecast.
Further south, hundreds of residents of the Myanmar border trade hub of Myawaddy left their homes to take shelter in schools and monasteries on higher ground as flood waters rose, a resident of the town, which sits on the border with Thailand, told AFP.
Southeast Asia experiences annual monsoon rains, but human-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Typhoons in the region are forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.
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