Myanmar.-Floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi and seasonal monsoon rains in Myanmar have left at least 226 people dead and 77 missing, state media reported Tuesday. The new figures bring the total death toll in Southeast Asia from the storm to more than 500.
The death toll has been slow, in part because of communication difficulties with affected areas. Myanmar is ravaged by a civil war that began in 2021 after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Independent analysts believe the ruling army controls far less than half of the country’s territory.
Typhoon Yagi hit Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing nearly 300 people in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordination Centre for Humanitarian Assistance. In the Philippines, 21 people were killed and 26 others are missing.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday that some 631,000 people may have been affected by the floods in Myanmar. By early September, there were already 3.4 million displaced people in Myanmar, according to the UN refugee agency, mainly due to war and unrest in recent years.
Heavy rains from the typhoon and the seasonal monsoon caused widespread flash flooding in Myanmar, particularly in the central regions of Mandalay, Magway, Bago and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta; the eastern states of Shan, Kayah, Kayin and Mon; and the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.
In some flooded areas, water levels have begun to recede, but others in Shan and Kayah states remain in critical condition.
According to Myanma Alinn, more than 160,000 houses have been damaged and 438 temporary camps have been opened for more than 160,000 flood victims. The military government announced that nearly 240,000 people have been displaced.
Myanma Alinn said 117 government offices and buildings, 1,040 schools, 386 religious buildings, roads, bridges, power towers and telecommunication towers were damaged by flooding in 56 townships.
He also said nearly 130,000 animals were killed and more than 259,000 hectares (640,000 acres) of farmland were damaged by the floods.
The UN humanitarian agency said food, clean water, medicine, clothing, dignity kits and shelters are urgently needed for flood victims, but relief efforts are hampered by blocked roads, damaged bridges and ongoing armed clashes.
Vice General Soe Win, the second-ranking member of Myanmar’s ruling military council, said the country had received humanitarian aid from other countries and that some humanitarian assistance from the Association of Southeast Asia would arrive soon.
Soe Win, speaking at a meeting of the National Disaster Management Committee on Monday, said the scale of flooding in the capital was unprecedented and clean-up and rehabilitation activities in the flooded areas began on Thursday as the water level receded.
Myanmar suffers from extreme weather conditions during the monsoon almost every year. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 people in the Irrawaddy delta area. The military government at the time was severely discredited when it delayed accepting outside aid.Infobae.
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2024-09-20 05:45:36
