In recent days, Typhoon Yagi has been sweeping through several countries in Southeast Asia, causing millions of people to be in distress due to flooded homes, power outages, and damaged infrastructure. The most heart-wrenching aspect is that the death toll from this typhoon and the secondary disasters it triggered, such as flooding and landslides, has exceeded three hundred in Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Media reports have shown that the torrential rain brought by Typhoon Yagi has submerged large areas in northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar, leaving a trail of destruction wherever the typhoon passed, with rivers overflowing. Currently, hundreds of thousands of people in Thailand and Myanmar are trying to escape their flooded homes. In Vietnam, emergency rescue departments and citizens have started clearing up the ravaged homes by Yagi and are also making efforts to search for missing persons.
Vietnam has been hit the hardest in this typhoon disaster. According to the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, as of Friday (September 13), the country’s death toll has risen to 254 people, with over 820 injured and 82 missing.
The Ministry of Agriculture in Vietnam stated that the floods destroyed over 250,000 hectares of crops nationwide, and many livestock were drowned, with the agricultural land around the capital, Hanoi, also severely affected. Additionally, infrastructure and factories across the country have suffered severe damages, making post-disaster reconstruction work exceptionally challenging.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) mentioned that Typhoon Yagi has led to over 140,000 homes being destroyed in 26 provinces in Vietnam, with hundreds of thousands of children losing their homes. They are facing a lack of clean drinking water, hygienic facilities, healthcare services, and around two million children are unable to access education, social and psychological support, and school meal programs.
The military government of Myanmar has declared that as of Friday, over 235,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes due to flooding, with at least 33 fatalities in the flood disaster.
According to reports by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the military government in Myanmar has established around 50 relief camps to accommodate the displaced flood victims.
This deadly disaster has added new suffering to a country already in conflict since the military seized power in 2021.
Thai authorities have reported that the flooding and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi have resulted in at least 10 deaths in the country.
On Friday, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra traveled to the northern border town of Mae Sai to visit the affected people, as the area faced the most severe flooding in 80 years.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Thailand stated that the continuing rainfall is expected to further raise the water levels of the Mekong River, and several regions will still face the threat of floods until next Wednesday.