NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: The people of Myanmar are picking up the pieces after Typhoon Yagi ravaged the country and left more than 200 people dead, according to official figures.
Local reports suggest that the death toll may be far higher than official estimates.
More than 70 people remain missing.
Yagi – Asia’s most powerful storm this year – swept across northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar more than a week ago with powerful winds and an enormous amount of rain, triggering floods and landslides.
While Myanmar is prone to extreme weather events, this is among the worst floods in the nation’s recent history, said the United Nations. Its low-lying capital Naypyidaw was almost completely submerged.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) disaster response agency said so far, an estimated 631,000 people have been affected by flooding across Myanmar.
State media reported more than 65,000 homes have been destroyed.
MYANMAR RESIDENTS SUFFER
Relief and medical teams have been deployed across the country to help evacuate residents to higher and dryer ground. About 200 relief camps have also opened, housing more than 240,000 people displaced by the floods.
One resident in Naypyidaw’s Sin Thay village, Ms Ma Thu, said her family spent two days on the rooftop of their home.
“We had nothing to eat. My children were hungry. My parents and children are now being treated by doctors,” she said.
