PYINMANA, Myanmar – Hundreds of villagers in Myanmar waded or swam through chin-high waters, fleeing severe floods around the remote capital Naypyidaw on Friday, while Vietnam began clearing up after deadly Typhoon Yagi.
People in parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar have been battling floods and landslides in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which dumped a colossal deluge of rain when it 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.
More than 50,000 people have been forced from their homes in Myanmar, piling further misery on the country hit by conflict since the military seized power in 2021.
One resident of Sin Thay village near Naypyidaw said he and his two children had spent the previous night sheltering in a tree to avoid the surging floodwaters.
“The water reached the village very suddenly at night, there was no time to run,” he told AFP.
“We didn’t get rescued until later. If they had come 30 minutes later, my family would be dead.”
Some villagers dragged makeshift rafts behind them carrying their possessions, while others led livestock to higher ground.
“This is the very first time I have experienced such a flood,” another man said near the village.
“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.
A junta spokesman has been approached for an updated death toll.
In the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, residents equipped with shovels, brushes and hoses were out clearing up debris and mud 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 this week, as the rain brought by Yagi funneled out towards the sea.
“This was the highest flooding I’ve ever seen, it was more than a meter on our first floor,” Nguyen Lan Huong, 40, told AFP.
“The water started to recede yesterday afternoon so we began cleaning up bit by bit. But it will take days for our family to fully recover, and even weeks for the community here I think.”
A total of 130,000 people have been evacuated in northern Vietnam since Yagi hit on Saturday — and many have not yet been able to return home — while more than 135,000 homes have been damaged according to the authorities.
In the deadliest single incident, a landslide wiped out a village in mountainous Lao Cai province, killing 48 people.
But in a rare piece of good news, eight people missing in the landslide and feared dead have returned safe. Some had been staying with relatives while others managed to escape in time.
Northern Thailand was also badly affected, with one district on the Myanmar border reporting its worst floods in 80 years.
Officials said Friday a fatality in a landslide in Chiang Rai province had taken the toll in the kingdom to 10.
Flights to Chiang Rai airport meanwhile resumed, a day after airlines halted them.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrived in Chiang Rai on Friday to see relief efforts, which are being led by the military.
There are flood warnings for several locations along the River Mekong, including the Laotian capital Vientiane.
The Mekong River Commission, the international body overseeing the crucial waterway, said low-lying areas around Vientiane are expected to be flooded over the next few days.
