The death toll from flooding triggered by Typhoon Yagi in Myanmar has more than doubled, with 74 people dead and 89 missing, media reported on Sunday, September 15. Myanmar’s new global lightThe previous one was 33 dead and more than 235,000 people forced to leave their homes.
Search and rescue operations are continuing, the paper said, adding that the floods have destroyed more than 65,000 homes and five dams.
Floods and landslides have killed nearly 350 people in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand following Typhoon Yagi, which hit the region last weekend, according to official figures.
Flooded farmlands
Tracts of farmland have been flooded in central parts of the country, particularly around the capital Naypyidaw, and landslides have been reported in mountainous regions. With roads and bridges damaged and telephone and internet lines down, it is difficult to gather information about the situation.
The Sittaung and Bago rivers, which run through the centre and south of the country, were still above dangerous levels on Sunday, according to state media, but water levels were expected to recede in the coming days.
Authorities across the country have opened 82 camps to shelter people who have been forced to flee their homes, according to state media. Thailand’s meteorological office warned of further heavy rains in provinces along the Mekong River on Sunday.
The catastrophe further exacerbates the misery in Myanmar, which has descended into a humanitarian, political and security crisis since the February 2021 coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 2.7 million residents have been forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing civil conflict.
Request for foreign aid
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday appealed for international aid to deal with the floods, a rare move as the government has previously hampered humanitarian aid from abroad. In mid-June 2023, it suspended travel authorisations for NGO members trying to help around a million victims of Cyclone Mocha in the west of the country. The United Nations then denounced the decision. “incomprehensible”.
On Saturday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Myanmar and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Agence France-Presse that they were not in a position to comment at the junta’s request for comment.
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Scientists say climate change is making the monsoon, which hits Southeast Asia from June to September, even stronger and more erratic. According to a study published in July, because of climate change, typhoons are forming closer to the coast, intensifying more quickly and staying over land longer.
