Vietnam Death Toll Climbs To 199 As Typhoon's Aftermath Brings Flash Floods And Landslides

HANOI: Nearly 200 people have died in Vietnam in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi and 128 are missing as flash floods and landslides take their toll, state media reported Thursday. Vietnam's VNExpress newspaper reported that 199 people have died while more than 800 have been injured. In the capital, flood waters from the Red River receded slightly but many areas were still inundated with water neck-high in some places.

In Hanoi's Tay Ho district, people waded through muddy brown water above their knees to make their way along one street, some still wearing their bicycle and motorcycle helmets after abandoning their vehicles along the way. A few paddled along the road in small boats as empty water bottles, a stryofoam cooler and other flotsam drifted by; one man pushed his motorbike toward drier ground in an aluminum sloop.

Pedestrians hiked up their shorts as high as possible to avoid being soaked by the wake caused by a delivery truck powering its way through the water.
Bakery owner Mai Anh evacuated the area with her family to shelter with her parents, but returned Thursday to check on her shop and found more than two feet (half a metre) of water still inside.

“I can't do business with the flood like this,” she said. “The goods in my shop are all destroyed.” The flooding in Hanoi has been reportedly the worst in two decades. Residents started evacuating the area Tuesday as the flood waters rose, and power and drinking water have been cut since Wednesday.

The flood waters damaged the doors to Hoang Anh Tu's home, from which he operates a beer shop. Though he and his family were able to relocate to his parents' house, they have had to take turns guarding the building. “It's very difficult,” he said. “We haven't even been able to assess the damage because the flood came so fast.” Yagi was the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades. It made landfall Saturday with winds of up to 149 kph (92 mph). Despite weakening on Sunday, downpours continued and rivers remain dangerously high.

The death toll spiked earlier in the week as a flash flood swept away the entire hamlet of Lang Nu in northern Vietnam's Lao Cai province Tuesday. Hundreds of rescue personnel worked tirelessly Wednesday to search for survivors, but as of Thursday morning 53 villagers remained missing, VNExpress reported, while seven more bodies were found, bringing the death toll there to 42.

Floods and landslides have caused most of the deaths, many of which have come in the northwestern Lao Cai province, bordering China, where Lang Nu is located. Lao Cai province is also home to the popular trekking destination of Sapa. On Monday, a bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding, killing dozens of people.

The steel bridge in Phu Tho province over the engorged Red River collapsed, sending 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes into the river. The bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province. Experts say storms like Typhoon Yagi are getting stronger due to climate change, as warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel them, leading to higher winds and heavier rainfall.