Super Typhoon Yagi has hit Myanmar hard, as well as Vietnam and Thailand. According to official figures, at least 19 people have died in flash floods and landslides. However, according to local eyewitnesses, the number of victims could be much higher. Many areas in the country, which is ruled by a brutal military junta, were cut off from the outside world due to flooding.
“The villages and communities near the capital Naypyidaw are in a terrible state,” 34-year-old Kyaw Kyaw, who was working for locally organized rescue teams, told the German Press Agency. “Some places have not yet been accessible to the teams.” The storm was preceded by heavy rain as a result of “Yagi.”
In addition to Naypyidaw, the Bago region north of the largest city Yangon and the two regions bordering Thailand, Shan and Kayah (also called Karenni), were particularly affected. “We don’t know how many people are dead,” Kyaw Kyaw continued. “People were completely helpless when the floods came because the junta didn’t send proper rescue teams.”
Junta hardly helps the population
A woman in a refugee camp in Kayah State spoke of at least 24 deaths in this region alone. “But many are also missing. There are no real rescue measures here,” she told the dpa. The junta had recently carried out air strikes on the population in the region because resistance fighters were operating there.
Former Burma has been sinking into chaos and violence since a military coup in February 2021. Every natural disaster affects the population even more than in other countries in Southeast Asia.
Death toll in Vietnam continues to rise
In Vietnam, which was also massively affected by the storm, the death toll rose to 233, and more than 100 people are still missing, according to the disaster control agency. According to the authorities, the most violent tropical storm in decades raged for 15 hours last weekend. The capital Hanoi was also badly affected.
There were also heavy losses in agriculture: According to reports, around two million livestock died, mainly poultry and cattle. More than 200,000 hectares of rice fields were significantly damaged.
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The alarm is also still in place in Thailand. Large parts of the provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, which are popular with tourists from all over the world, have been under water since Wednesday. At least six people have died so far. Some residents had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses by helicopter. Meteorologists warned of further heavy rainfall.
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