Typhoon Yagi: Myanmar flood death toll rises to 293, 89 still missing 

The death toll in Myanmar following the devastation caused by Typhoon Yagi has reached to 293, with 89 people still missing, according to the military junta on Thursday.

Typhoon Yagi, which hit over a week ago, also caused widespread flooding and landslides across northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, with a regional death toll now standing at 613, based on official reports.

Typhoon Yagi earlier hit Vietnam, northern Thailand and Laos, killing almost 300 people in Vietnam, 42 in Thailand and four in Laos, according to the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance’s report on Monday. It said 21 people were killed in the Philippines, with another 26 missing.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Monday that an estimated 631,000 people may have been affected by flooding across Myanmar. There were already 3.4 million displaced people in Myanmar at the beginning of September, according to the U.N. refugee agency, mostly because of war and unrest in recent years.

Heavy rains from the typhoon and the seasonal monsoon brought widespread flash floods to Myanmar, especially the central regions of Mandalay, Magway, Bago and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta; the eastern states Shan, Kayah, Kayin and Mon; and the country’s capital, Naypyitaw.

Some flooded areas have started to see water levels recede but others in the Shan and Kayah states remain critical.

More than 160,000 houses have been damaged and 438 temporary relief camps have been opened for more than 160,000 flood victims, Myanma Alinn reported. The military government announced that nearly 240,000 people have been displaced.

Myanmar experiences extreme weather during the monsoon virtually every year. In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 people around the Irrawaddy River delta. The then-military government was harshly discredited when it delayed acceptance of outside aid.

Last weekend, the junta issued a rare appeal for foreign aid to help cope with the disaster.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has “ordered all to carry out rehabilitation tasks to return to normality within six months”, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Thursday.

On Wednesday an Indian navy ship delivered aid including dried food, clothes, medicine and tents at Thilawa port in commercial hub Yangon, the newspaper said.

With inputs from agencies.