Floods and mudslides kill more than 200 in Myanmar

Sep 17, 2024 - 12:22

Myanmar's military junta issued a rare appeal for foreign help at the weekend

The number of people in Myanmar who have died in the wake of Typhoon Yagi rose to more than 220, with nearly 80 others still missing, the military government said.

The storm swept through northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar in early September and has killed more than 500 people across the region so far, according to official figures.

It triggered severe floods and mudslides in Myanmar, leaving at least 226 dead as whole villages were wrecked.

With hundreds of thousands of acres of crops destroyed, the UN also warned that more than half a million people in the war-torn country are in urgent need of food as well as drinking water, shelter and clothes.

Getty Images Two men guide cattle through high flowing flood waters in Sin Thay village in Pyinmana, in Myanmar's Naypyidaw region, on September 13, 2024. — **More than 600,000 acres of crops were destroyed - the Naypyidaw region was among the worst-hit (Getty Images)**

Getty Images High flood water surrounds homes in Taungoo, Myanmar's Bago region on September 14, 2024 — **Heavy rains and nearly submerged whole villages - this was in the Bago region to the south (Getty Images)**

A map showing Typhoon Yagi's path eastwards and the areas of Myanmar most affected by flooding. — ***At least 500 people have been killed across Southeast Asia in the wake of Typhoon Yagi***

The UN said the storm's devastation spanned nine states and regions, including the the country's capital Naypyidaw in the interior, as well as Mandalay to the north, Magway to the west, and Bago to the south - regions that lie along the Irrawady, Myanmar's largest river.

Also hit were Shan State in the north-east and Mon, Kayah and Kayin states, which lie to its south.

A civil war has engulfed the country since early 2021, when the army sized power after ousting the democratically-elected government.

Since then thousands have been killed and millions forced from their homes as various armed resistance groups battle the ruling military junta.

In the last year or so, the army has lost control of large parts of the country, creating an unstable patchwork of governance.

That, coupled with poor communication in remote areas, has meant information about casualties has been slow to emerge.

Marga Ambulance & Rescue Men in orange life jackets pull along a small boat full of children through waist-high water in a street — **Rescue and relief efforts are under way in some parts**

Getty Images Residents walk through flood waters in Pyinmana in Myanmar's Naypyidaw region on September 13, 2024. — **But the UN has warned of a bigger challenge: an urgent need for food, clothes and shelter (Getty Images)**

Aid agencies also have little or no access to many parts of the country, including Shan State, one of the worst-hit by the flooding, which is now largely controlled by a rebel army.

A volunteer rescuer in the state's south told BBC Burmese that entire homes had been buried under mudslides.

"We have collected over 100 dead bodies so far, including children and elderly people. We're still searching for over 200 more," he added.

“This flooding is the worst I have ever seen in my life,” said a resident in the east of Shan State.

The situaiton is just as dire more than 500 miles away, in the south-east: “People are in urgent need of food," Khon Matia, a senior official in rebel-controlled Kayin State (formerly Karen State) told BBC Burmese.

"There is no offer of international aid. People are in a more difficult position here because everything is blocked because of the floods and the war. So it is very difficult to reach us."

Getty Images Two male police officers carry women on their backs through muddy flood waters — **The UN said this is the worst flooding in Myanmar's recent history (Getty Images)**

Typhoon Yagi also caused 10 deaths in Thailand and one in Laos.

In Vietnam, the death toll stands at 292, with 38 missing, more than 230,000 homes damaged, 280,000 hectares of crops destroyed and major manufacturing hubs heavily damaged, according to authorities.

Source: BBC