Over 200 dead from Typhoon Yagi, Vietnam searches for survivors, floods shake Thailand and Myanmar

Hanoi — Millions of people in Southeast Asia struggled with flooded homes, power outages and destroyed infrastructure on Thursday after Typhoon Yagi swept through the region, with the death toll topping 200. In worst-hit Vietnam alone, the death toll rose to 197, with nine deaths confirmed in northern Thailand, where a district is suffering from the worst flooding in 80 years.

Myanmar's national fire service confirmed the first deaths related to the Yagi disaster in the country after 17 bodies were recovered from flooded villages in Mandalay region, while more than 50,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

Yagi brought heavy rains that inundated much of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering deadly landslides and widespread river flooding.

A farmer on the outskirts of Hanoi told AFP his entire peach blossom orchard was flooded, destroying all 400 of his trees.

“It's going to be so hard for me to recover from this loss – I think I'll lose up to $40,000 this season,” said the farmer, who gave his name only as Tu. “I really don't know what to do now, I'm just waiting for the water to go down.”

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the typhoon destroyed more than 140,000 houses in 26 provinces of Vietnam.

Whole village in Vietnam flooded by floods

The floods destroyed over 249,000 hectares of arable land and large numbers of livestock, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture said. The arable land around Hanoi was particularly badly affected.

In parts of the Vietnamese capital, commuters trudged to work through brown floodwaters up to their shins, even as officials said river levels in the city were slowly receding after hitting a 20-year high on Wednesday.

Thousands have had to leave their homes, others are struggling with power outages.

In the deadliest single incident, a landslide in Lao Cai province destroyed an entire village with 37 houses. At least 42 people were killed and 53 are still missing.

Rescue teams pulled victims from the mud on Thursday and carried them on stretchers to makeshift shelters, where neighbors and relatives carefully washed the bodies and prepared them for burial.

Survivors searched through the mud and rubble to recover any family heirlooms and belongings they could find.

In Cao Bang province, 15 bodies were recovered after Landslide on Monday a bus as well as several cars and motorcycles into a stream, state media reported on Thursday.

Death toll and concern in Thailand and Myanmar increases

In Thailand, the death toll has risen to nine, including six people killed in landslides in Chiang Mai province, according to the Ministry of Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation.

The aviation authority said all flights to the airport in Chiang Rai, about 90 miles northeast of Chiang Mai, were suspended.

Further north, Mae Sai district on the border with Myanmar is suffering from its worst flooding in 80 years, Suttipong Juljarern, a senior Interior Ministry official, said in a statement.

The Jet Ski Association of Thailand has sent 16 jet skis to support relief efforts, Dechnarong Suticharnbancha, the association's president, told AFP.

Some of the currents in the floodwaters are too strong for normal boats, but jet skis can navigate them thanks to their powerful engines.

A video circulated on Thai social media showing jet ski champion Kasidit Teeraprateep rescuing an elderly woman from a murky flood.

Myanmar's junta government has set up around 50 camps to help people affected by the floods, Lay Shwe Zin Oo, director of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, told AFP.

Myanmar's state-run newspaper Global New Light reported that train services on the main line between Yangon and Mandalay had been suspended because some sections were flooded.

The Mekong River Commission, the international body that oversees this important waterway, issued a flood warning for the historic Lao city of Luang Prabang on Thursday.

The Mekong River is expected to flood in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Luang Prabang in the coming days, the commission said in a bulletin.

Every year, Southeast Asia is hit by heavy monsoon rains. Experts say man-made Climate change leads to more intense weather conditions that can increase the likelihood of destructive flooding.

Climate change is causing typhoons to form closer to the coast, intensify faster and stay over land longer, according to a study published in July.