Millions in SE Asia battle floods, death toll passes 200

HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Millions of people across Southeast Asia struggled Thursday with flooded homes, power cuts and wrecked infrastructure after typhoon “Yagi” swept through the region, as the death toll passed 200.

In worst-hit Vietnam the fatalities rose to 197, with nine confirmed dead in northern Thailand — where one district is suffering its worst floods in 80 years.

“Yagi” smashed into Vietnam at the weekend, bringing a colossal deluge of rain that has inundated a swathe of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering deadly landslides and widespread river flooding.

One farmer told Agence France-Presse his entire 1,800 square meters of peach blossom plantation was submerged, destroying all 400 of his trees.

The high waters have devastated more than 250,000 hectares of crops and huge numbers of livestock, Vietnam’s agriculture ministry said, with farmland around Hanoi hit hard.

Commuters in parts of the Vietnamese capital trudged to work through shin-deep brown floodwaters, though officials said river levels in the city are slowly falling after hitting a 20-year high on Wednesday.