Four days after Typhoon Yagi struck, Vietnam continues to count its losses. The death toll has risen to 197, with floods and landslides in the north of the country, the Vietnamese government announced on Thursday, September 12.
One hundred and twenty-eight people are missing and more than 250,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed, agriculture ministry officials added in an official report. The previous death toll was 155 on Wednesday. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi has pledged $1 million in immediate humanitarian aid.
The tropical storm hit northern Vietnam on Saturday and Sunday, with wind gusts exceeding 150 km/h. The deluge of rain also caused destructive floods in Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Meteorologists say Yagi is the most powerful typhoon to hit northern Vietnam in the past 30 years.
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Monster floods
Bridges were destroyed, roofs torn off and factories damaged by the storm, which made landfall on Saturday. The north of the country has since been plagued by massive flooding. Villages are partly underwater, while thousands of people have been evacuated.
In the mountainous province of Lao Cai, a landslide swept away the entire village of Lang Nu, leaving at least 30 dead and 65 missing, according to Vietnamese state media. The media broadcast graphic footage of the mudslide, which also showed villagers tending to their dead, some wrapped in cloth, others lying in makeshift coffins, as police continued to search for victims in the mud.
People were walking in chest-deep water Wednesday in Hanoi, where the Red River has reached its highest level in 20 years due to Typhoon Yagi. In one suburban area, more than 15,000 people have been affected by flooding. Farmers are bearing the brunt of the typhoon: About 1.5 million chickens and ducks died in Yagi’s wake, as well as 2,500 pigs, buffaloes and cows, according to official data.
Before hitting Vietnam, Typhoon Yagi had passed through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens. According to a study published in July, typhoons in the region are now forming closer to shore, intensifying more quickly and staying over land longer because of climate change.
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