Typhoon Yagi: 226 killed in Myanmar with entire villages swept away
The death toll from disastrous flooding in Myanmar following Typhoon Yagi has risen to 226, many more people missing after reports of deadly landslides and entire villages being swept away by raging rivers.
The United Nations has warned that as many as 630,000 people could be in need of help, while state TV reported nearly 640,000 acres of rice paddies and other crops have been destroyed, creating longer term food insecurity for the already impoverished population.
At least 287 people are also believed to have died in heavy rains and powerful winds as Typhoon Yagi swept across northern Vietnam, Laos and Thailand before reaching Myanmar.
Myanmar’s junta made a rare appeal for foreign aid at the weekend to tackle the rescue mission and aftermath of the floods that have wreaked havoc in a country already suffering the economic and humanitarian impact of three years of war.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, triggering widespread violence and destroying the economy.
The chaos has made the country even more vulnerable during times of natural disaster, but the junta has previously frustrated foreign humanitarian assistance, including the suspension of travel authorisations for aid groups last year after Cyclone Mocha.
State media reported that nearly 66,000 houses had been destroyed as of Friday evening, along with 375 schools and a monastery.
However, many of the worst-affected areas remain difficult to reach after major infrastructure, including a railway bridge in Mandalay’s Pyawbwe township and the Yangon-Mandalay highway in the capital Naypyitaw was swept away or severely flooded.
Phone and internet communications have also been cut off in parts of the country, stoking fears that the damage could be more widespread and death toll much higher than currently known.
The UN’s World Food Programme on Monday said the floods were the worst in Myanmar’s recent history, without giving precise details.
Severe flooding hit the country in 2011 and 2015, with more than 100 deaths reported on both occasions, while in 2008 Cyclone Nargis left more than 138,000 people dead or missing.
The storm has mainly affected Naypyidaw, as well as the Mandalay, Magway, and Bago regions, along with eastern and southern Shan state, Mon, Kayah and Kayin states.
Local media reports suggest many of the most badly affected villages have been forced to carry out and fund their own rescue operations.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing people trapped on top of their flooded homes or in trees.
“We had no time to move our belongings as water level rose rapidly and had to climb on the roof,” a Naypyitaw resident told the Irrawaddy. “The floodwaters are very strong, and they were higher than a man.”
The news site said most of the 350-plus homes in Thabyaypin village in Mandalay Region’s Yamethin Township were swept away by a torrent of floodwater and 80 residents were missing. The township was devastated after the Paunglaung River burst its banks.
“People were killed by mudslides. In some villages, houses were buried. People are only helping each other, and no officials have come so far,” one resident said.
India has so far sent 10 tonnes of materials, including dry rations, clothing and medicine, but the UN has issued an urgent appeal for more resources.
The latest storm to hit Southeast Asia has added to concerns that extreme weather events are a side-effect of the global climate crisis as warmer air can hold more water vapour, leading to more frequent and severe flooding.