Myanmar ravaged by floods as Vietnam begins cleanup after Typhoon Yagi

Hundreds of villagers in Myanmar waded or swam through chin-high waters, fleeing severe floods around the remote capital, Naypyidaw, as Vietnam began clearing up after Typhoon Yagi.

A swath of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar have been battling floods and landslides in the wake of the storm, which dumped a deluge of rain when it first hit the region last weekend.

The overall death toll across the four countries stands at 280, including 233 in Vietnam and 36 in Myanmar. But with many people missing, it is expected to rise further.

Myanmar’s national fire service on Friday confirmed the new death toll, while more than 50,000 people have been forced from their homes.

“We walked through neck-high water this morning,” one woman told the AFP news agency in Sin Thay village.

“We are very hungry and thirsty. It’s been about three days we don’t have food.”

Soldiers rescued residents of flooded villages in the complex network of rivers and creeks surrounding the sprawling, low-rise capital, with some forced to wade through deep muddy brown waters.

Houses and nearby banana and sugarcane plantations were all submerged.

“This is the very first time I have experienced such a flood,” another man said near the village, where people had gathered near a small bridge.

“We didn’t have time to prepare. It was a very scary experience.”

State media said flooding in the area around the capital had caused landslides and destroyed electricity towers, buildings, roads, bridges, and houses.

In the Mandalay region, one group of villagers rode elephants to reach dry land, in footage posted on social media.

In Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, residents equipped with shovels, brushes and hoses were out clearing up debris and mud from the streets after the waters that had submerged parts of the city receded, and the sun came out for the first time in days.

The Red River through Hanoi reached its highest level in 20 years earlier this week as rains brought by Yagi funnelled out towards the sea.

A total of 130,000 people were evacuated in northern Vietnam since Yagi hit, and more than 135,000 homes have been damaged, according to the authorities.