HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The death toll in the aftermath of a typhoon in Vietnam climbed to 233 on Friday as rescue workers recovered more bodies from areas hit by landslides and flash floods, state media reported.
Flood waters from the swollen Red River in the capital, Hanoi, were beginning to recede somewhat, but many neighborhoods remained inundated and farther north experts were predicting it could still be days before any relief was in sight.
Typhoon Yagi made landfall Saturday, starting a week of heavy rains that have triggered flash floods and landslides, particularly in Vietnam's mountainous north.
Across Vietnam, 103 people are still listed as missing and more than 800 have been injured.
The United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, said the storm and its aftermath has also damaged some 550 health facilities, 800 schools and more than 100,000 homes, while leaving more than 3 million people with no access to safe drinking water.
It said it is working with the government and other partners to deliver bottled water, purification tablets, filtration systems and other emergency aid to the areas hardest hit.
Most fatalities have come in the province of Lao Cai, where a flash flood swept away the entire hamlet of Lang Nu on Tuesday. Eight villagers turned up safe on Friday morning, telling others that they had left before the deluge, state-run VNExpress newspaper reported, but 48 others from Lang Nu have been found dead, and another 39 remain missing.
Roads to Lang Nu have been badly damaged, making it impossible to bring in heavy equipment to aid in the rescue effort.
Some 500 personnel with sniffer dogs are on hand, and in a visit to the scene on Thursday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh promised they would not relent in their search for those still missing.
“Their families are in agony,” Chinh said.
Coffins were stacked near the disaster site in preparation for the worst, and villager Tran Thi Ngan mourned at a makeshift altar for family members she had lost.
“It's a disaster,” she told VTV news. “That's the fate we have to accept.”
In Cao Bang, another northern province bordering China, 21 bodies had been recovered by Friday, four days after a landslide pushed a bus, a car and several motorcycles into a small river, swollen with floodwaters. Ten more people remain missing.
In the aftermath of Yagi, the strongest typhoon to hit the Southeast Asian country in decades, Australia has already begun delivering humanitarian aid supplies as part of $2 million in assistance.
South Korea has also pledged $2 million in humanitarian aid, and the U.S. Embassy said Friday it would provide $1 million in support through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
“With more heavy rain forecast in the coming days, USAID’s disaster experts continue to monitor humanitarian needs in close coordination with local emergency authorities and partners on the ground,” the embassy said in a statement. “USAID humanitarian experts on the ground are participating in ongoing assessments to ensure U.S. assistance rapidly reaches populations in need.”
Experts say storms like Typhoon Yagi are getting stronger due to climate change, as warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel them, leading to higher winds and heavier rainfall.
The typhoon and ensuing heavy rains have damaged factories in northern provinces like Haiphong, home to electric car company VinFast, Apple parts suppliers and other electronic manufacturers, which could affect international supply chains, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a research note.
“Though 95 percent of businesses operating in Haiphong were expected to resume some activity on September 10, repair efforts will likely lower output for the next weeks and months,” CSIS said.
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Rising reported from Bangkok.
Hau Dinh And David Rising, The Associated Press
