More than 100 people have died in flooding and mudslides caused by the remnants of Typhoon Yagi in Myanmar.
A spokesman for the nation’s junta, Zaw Min Tun, said in a statement on Sunday that 113 people had been confirmed dead, with a further 64 missing – though regional reports suggest the actual death toll may be higher.
Meanwhile, according to the AFP news agency, over 320,000 people have been forced to evacuate to temporary shelters.
This year, Yagi, Asia’s most powerful storm, has already proved devastating as it swept across Vietnam, Laos, the Chinese island of Hainan and the Philippines.
At least 287 people were thought to have died as a result of the storm before it reached Myanmar.
While the typhoon has been downgraded to a tropical depression since making landfall in northern Vietnam, it has continued to cause deadly landslides across southeast Asia.
In Myanmar, state media reports that nearly 66,000 houses had been destroyed as of Friday evening, along with 375 schools and a monastery. Several miles of road and other infrastructure have been washed away.
Also, as of Friday, more than 236,000 people were accommodated at 187 relief camps.
The impacts of heavy rainfall have centred on the Kayah, Kayin, Mandalay, Mon, and Shan states – which cover the central region of Myanmar.
Some say the number of deaths is already far higher than official estimates.
Radio Free Asia, a US-backed broadcaster, reported that at least 160 people had died in Myanmar – with social media accounts loyal to the junta suggesting 230 people had been killed in the Mandalay region alone.
Japan‘s state broadcaster, NHK, reported that more than 120 people had died as of Saturday.
EPA People carry their belonging as they wade through flood waters in Pyinmana, Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on 13 September 2024.EPA
In Kalaw, a hill town in the Shan state, at least 12 people had died as of Saturday, one of whom was eight years old, the privately owned Eleven Myanmar news website reported.
One man told AFP how he had tried to rescue people with ropes as floodwaters 4m (15 ft) high surged through the town on 10 September.
“I could see trapped families in the distance standing on the roofs of their houses,” he said.
“I heard there were 40 bodies in the hospital.”
A woman who runs a company in Kalaw claimed her staff had said 60 people had died in the town, AFP reported.
Myanmar has suffered a three-year civil war since a military junta seized power in 2021. The UN estimates that thousands have been killed, and the conflict has displaced 2.6 million people.
The Shan state is also home to several armed insurgent groups, some of which have de facto control over some of its territory.
Myanmar’s information ministry says emergency and health workers have been deployed to areas affected by floods and that it has provided funds for food and drinking water for evacuees.
State media reports that emergency responders have also begun repairing damaged roads and bridges.
Scientists say typhoons and hurricanes are becoming stronger and more frequent with climate change. Warmer ocean waters mean storms pick up more energy, leading to higher wind speeds.
A warmer atmosphere can also hold more moisture, leading to more intense rainfall.
Yagi is expected to move away from Myanmar in the coming days. In the coming week, another tropical depression will develop in the western Pacific.
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