A man paddles a boat in the flood in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. - AP
HANOI (dpa): The death toll in Vietnam from typhoon Yagi has risen to 281, with 67 people still missing, authorities said on Sunday.
According to reports, Super Typhoon Yagi and its aftermath cut a swath of destruction across north Vietnam estimated at 40 trillion dong (US$1.6 billion), threatening to lower the country’s economic growth for the year.
The losses could trim 0.15 percentage points off 2024’s economic growth, according to state media, citing an estimate by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The government previously targeted this year’s expansion at as much as 7%.
Typhoon Yagi - the strongest typhoon to strike northern Vietnam in around 30 years - swept across the region a week ago, bringing ferocious winds and torrential rain.
More than 1,900 people were injured, the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority said in a report released on Sunday.
The victim count includes 52 dead and 33 missing in a village that was completely destroyed and swept away on September 10 in Bao Yen district, Lao Cai province.
The bodies of another 30 people were found around the site where a bus, five cars and 10 motorbikes were swept away in Cao Bang province a day earlier.
According to disaster control, the tropical storm damaged some 235,000 houses.
More than 2.6 million farm animals were killed, mainly poultry and livestock, and more than 200,000 hectares of rice fields have been significantly damaged.
Flood waters have since receded but affected areas are still grappling with the clean-up effort.
Hanoi is struggling to clear 40,000 fallen trees one week after Yagi hit, blocking streets and disrupting daily life.
Millions of children in northern Vietnam are in urgent need of support following the typhoon, with some 3 million people left without access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the UN children's agency UNICEF said in a report.
According to initial estimates by the Vietnamese government, Typhoon Yagi caused preliminary damage of about $1.6 billion to Vietnam, causing a loss of about 0.15% of gross domestic product this year.
Yagi previously swept across the Philippines and China, causing death and destruction there as well.
The typhoon has since also hit Myanmar and Thailand. - dpa
