HANOI:
The death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Yagi and the landslides and flash floods it caused rose to 226 on Thursday, the government’s disaster agency said, as flood pressure increased. attenuated in the capital Hanoi.
The Southeast Asian country is reeling from Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, which made landfall on Vietnam’s northeast coast on Saturday.
More than 100 people are still missing, while some 800 people were injured, the agency said in a report.
Several districts of the capital Hanoi remained flooded on Thursday, but the weather agency said late in the day that flood pressure had eased, while flash floods and landslides continued to affect northern areas of the Vietnam.
The city had earlier evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen Red River as its waters reached their highest level in 20 years.
“There’s a lot of grief in the city and there was a lot of worry until the evening,” said Skye Maconachie, co-CEO of the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. “A lot of people who had almost nothing lost everything.”
The government weather agency said late Thursday that the river had peaked in Hanoi and started to fall.
North of Hanoi, landslides and severe flooding are still affecting several regions, state media reported.
“I never thought my house would be underwater at such a depth,” Hoang Van Ty said outside his house in Thai Nguyen province.
“My clothes and furniture were all underwater. A lot of things were floating too but luckily I closed the doors so nothing was washed away.”
55 PEOPLE MISSING IN FLASH FLOOD
Thai Nguyen province is home to Samsung Electronics’ largest smartphone manufacturing plant in Vietnam. Floodwaters have also receded in parts of the province where clean-up efforts are currently underway while residents get their submerged televisions and motorbikes repaired.
“I only have one motorcycle to take to work, but it was flooded, so I have to bring it here to get it repaired,” said Thai Nguyen, 36, a resident of a motorcycle repair shop. . “I won’t be able to go to work until it’s fixed.”
Repairman Nguyen Van Truong said his workshop had repaired 60 motorcycles in the past two days and had another 20 waiting.
“We’re a little overwhelmed, very overwhelmed actually,” Truong said. “I’m tired of the hard work, but people need transportation to get everything back to normal smoothly.”
In Lao Cai province, authorities rushed Thursday to search for 55 people missing during a flash flood that swept through the village of Nu on Tuesday, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
The flash flood killed 46 people and injured 17 others in the village, the agency reported, adding that 300 soldiers and 359 local officials were joining search and rescue efforts.
Landslides and floods have inundated more than 200,000 hectares of rice fields and cash crops in northern Vietnam, the disaster management agency said.
The typhoon also disrupted electricity supplies and blew off the roofs of several factories in Haiphong and Quang Ninh provinces, halting production.
Several countries, including Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States, announced they would send aid to Vietnam.