Over 200 people have died as a result of severe floods caused by Typhoon Yagi ravaging countries in South-east Asia.
The rise in death is caused by the flood which started on Tuesday, September 10.
In the hardest-hit area of Vietnam, the death toll has reached 197, while eight people have been confirmed dead in northern Thailand, where one district is experiencing its worst flooding in 80 years.
Typhoon Yagi struck Vietnam over the weekend, unleashing an immense rainfall that has flooded large parts of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, causing deadly landslides and extensive river flooding.
A farmer who wished to be addressed as Tu, lamented that his entire 1,800-square-meter peach blossom plantation was submerged, destroying all 400 of his trees.
He said, “It will be so hard for me to recover from this loss.
“I think I will lose up to $40,000 this season.
“I really don’t know what to do now, I’m just waiting for the water to recede.”
According to Vietnam’s ministry of Agriculture, the severe flooding has destroyed over 250,000 hectares of crops and caused significant losses in livestock, particularly affecting farmland around Hanoi.
In the Vietnamese capital, commuters waded through knee-deep brown floodwaters to get to work.
However, officials have noted that river levels in the city are gradually receding after reaching a 20-year high on Wednesday, September 11.
Thousands have been compelled to leave their homes, and many are grappling with power outages.
In a severely affected district on the outskirts of Hanoi, over 15,000 people have been impacted by the floods.
Vietnamese state media reported that a landslide in the mountainous Lao Cai province resulted in seven deaths and left 11 people missing.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, September 10 but information has only recently emerged due to communication being cut off with the area, according to officials.
This follows another landslide in the same province that destroyed an entire village of 37 houses, resulting in at least 34 deaths and 46 people still missing.
On Thursday, September 12 the Mekong River Commission, the international organization responsible for monitoring the vital waterway, issued a flood warning for the historic Laotian city of Luang Prabang.
According to the commission’s bulletin, the Mekong River is expected to reach flood levels in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Thursday, September 12.
In Thailand, the death toll has increased to eight, with an additional four fatalities reported from a landslide in Chiang Mai province, as stated by provincial governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn.
Further north, Mae Sai district, which borders Myanmar, is experiencing its worst flooding in 80 years, according to a statement from senior interior ministry official Suttipong Juljarern.
The Thai government has deployed the military to assist with relief efforts, using three helicopters to conduct an aerial survey of the situation.
Buddhist temples, hotels, and resorts have opened their doors to provide shelter for nearly 1,000 people displaced by flooding, according to the government.
In Myanmar, the flooding is particularly severe in Naypyidaw, the junta’s expansive low-lying capital, and the town of Taungoo is also at risk due to rising river levels.
Train services on the main route between Yangon and Mandalay have been halted due to flooding in certain sections.
Each year, Southeast Asia experiences heavy monsoon rains, but human-induced climate change is leading to more extreme weather patterns, increasing the likelihood of destructive floods.
A study published in July found that climate change is causing typhoons to form nearer to the coast, strengthen more rapidly, and linger longer over land.
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