HANOI, Vietnam — The death toll from the typhoon in Vietnam rose to 233 on Friday as rescue workers recovered more bodies from areas hit by landslides and flash floods, state media reported.
Floodwaters from the swollen Red River in the capital, Hanoi, are beginning to recede, but many neighborhoods remain inundated and experts in the north estimate it may be days before relief comes.
Typhoon Yagi made landfall Saturday, beginning a week of torrential rains that caused flash floods and landslides, particularly in Vietnam’s mountainous north.
In Vietnam, 103 people are still listed as missing and more than 800 have been injured.
Most of the fatalities have come in Lao Cai province, where flash floods swept away the entire village of Lang Nu on Tuesday. Eight villagers arrived safely on Friday morning, telling others they had left before the flood, state-run VNExpress newspaper reported, but 48 others from Lang Nu were found dead, and 39 others remain missing.
The road to Lang Nu was so badly damaged that it was impossible to bring in heavy equipment to aid the rescue effort.
About 500 personnel with sniffer dogs are on hand, and in a visit to the scene on Thursday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pledged not to back down in the search for those still missing.
“His family is suffering,” Chinh said.
Coffins were piled near the disaster site in preparation for the worst, and Tran Thi Ngan villagers mourned at a makeshift altar for their lost family members.
“It’s a disaster,” he told VTV news. “This is the fate we must accept.”
In Cao Bang, another northern province bordering China, 21 bodies have been found on Friday, four days after a landslide pushed buses, cars and several motorbikes into a small river, swollen with floods. Ten people are still missing.
Experts say storms like Typhoon Yagi are getting stronger because of climate change, as warmer ocean waters provide more energy for fuel, leading to higher winds and heavier rain.
The effects of the typhoon, the strongest to hit Vietnam in decades, were also felt in the region, with floods and landslides in northern Thailand, Laos and northern Myanmar.
In Thailand, 10 deaths have been reported due to floods or landslides, and Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra flew north on Friday to visit those affected in the border town of Mae Sai. Thailand’s Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department warned of the risk of flash floods in many areas until Wednesday, as fresh rains are expected to raise the Mekong River’s level.
International aid has flowed into Vietnam in the wake of Yagi, with Australia having sent humanitarian supplies as part of a $2 million aid package.
South Korea has also pledged $2 million in humanitarian aid, and the US Embassy said on Friday it would provide $1 million in support through the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.
“With more rain forecast in the coming days, USAID disaster experts continue to monitor humanitarian needs in close coordination with emergency authorities and local partners on the ground,” the embassy said in a statement. “USAID’s humanitarian experts on the ground are engaged in ongoing evaluations to ensure U.S. aid quickly reaches populations in need.”
The typhoon and subsequent heavy rains damaged factories in northern provinces like Haiphong, home to electric car company VinFast, a supplier of components to Apple and other electronics manufacturers, which could affect international supply chains, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a research note.
“Although 95 percent of businesses operating in Haiphong are expected to resume some activity on September 10, repair efforts will likely reduce output for the following weeks and months,” CSIS said.
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Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.
