Parts of Hanoi remain flooded as Vietnam’s typhoon toll nears 200

HANOI: Several Hanoi districts remained inundated on Thursday (Sep 12) with the weather agency forecasting little change in the water levels of the Red River over the next 24 hours, as floods and landslides continued to affect areas in northern Vietnam.
Vietnam is still reeling from the impact of Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, which made landfall on Saturday.
At least 197 people have been killed and 128 missing since the storm struck, according to the government’s disaster management agency. About 800 people have been injured.
“High flooding water levels have flooded riverside and low-lying areas, eroded dykes and threatened parts of Hanoi and other northern provinces,” the agency said in a report.
The city had earlier evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen river as its waters rose to a 20-year high.
North of Hanoi, deadly landslides and severe floods are still affecting several areas, according to state media reports.
“I never thought my house would be under water this deep,” said Hoang Van Ty outside his home in Thai Nguyen province.
“My clothes and furniture are all under the water. Many things were floating around too but luckily I closed the doors so nothing was washed away.”
Thai Nguyen province is home to Samsung Electronics’ largest smartphone manufacturing plant in Vietnam. Flood waters have receded in some parts of the province, where clean-up efforts are now taking place.
The landslides and floods have inundated more than 200,000 hectares of rice and cash crop fields, according to the disaster management agency.
The typhoon has also disrupted power supplies and blew off the roofs of several factories in Haiphong and Quang Ninh provinces, halting their production.
Several countries, including Australia, Japan and the United States, have announced that they were sending aid to Vietnam.
Yagi has also inundated a swathe of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering deadly landslides and widespread river flooding.
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.