ASIA - After tropical storm “Yagi”: Help and solidarity for the victims in Vietnam and Myanmar

Hanoi (Agenzia Fides) - Eight days after the severe tropical storm "Yagi" hit northern Vietnam, the authorities are busy with massive reconstruction and relief operations. The floods and landslides caused by typhoon "Yagi" have devastated northern Vietnam, claiming more than 200 lives. Other Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and southern China have also been affected.
In northern Vietnam, heavy rains continued for five days, raising river levels and causing floods and landslides. While search and rescue teams continue their efforts, the death toll from typhoon "Yagi" and the subsequent floods and landslides has risen to 273 people, according to the United Nations Coordinator in Vietnam, with 78 still missing.
The tropical storm displaced more than 74,000 families, closed schools, disrupted health services and increased the risk of disease. The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development appealed to the international community to support relief and reconstruction efforts with UN agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations and individual countries.
India, meanwhile, has sent humanitarian aid to Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos as a sign of solidarity. The Foreign Ministry in New Delhi announced that 35 tons of relief supplies for Vietnam and 10 tons of relief supplies for Myanmar, including dry food rations, clothing and medicines, had been delivered. The member countries of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) expressed their condolences and full solidarity with the people in the affected countries by offering cooperation and support through the ASEAN Disaster Coordination Center for Humanitarian Assistance. In Vietnam, the provinces of Lao Cai-Yen Bai, Quang Ninh and Hai Phong are the most affected. There are 183,000 hectares of flooded cropland, 168,000 damaged homes, 100,000 evacuated families, 1,900 injured, and 550 health facilities and 805 schools also destroyed. Roads remain impassable in the mountain provinces and the government is trying to restore basic services such as electricity. Flooding and landslides have also killed at least 160 people across the border in Myanmar, according to initial counts, causing widespread suffering in a country already torn by war and reeling from the effects of a stalled economy. Although authorities have not released an official death toll, most of the victims are in the Shan region in the central east of the country, but central areas near Mandalay city, the capital Naypyidaw and Bago, as well as parts of Kayah and Mon states, have also been affected. The number of victims and damage continues to rise: according to unofficial reports circulating on social media, 200 people have been swept away and killed in the floods in Mandalay region alone. Relief efforts are particularly difficult because the conflict between the regular army and ethnic minority insurgents and the People's Defense Forces, who have taken control of several areas, continues. In this situation, it is difficult to coordinate and launch relief efforts to face the disaster. There are not enough personnel to help the victims in the junta-controlled area of Bago, which is completely flooded. In Taungoo, a monastery took in over 300 refugees from the surrounding villages and provided them with food. The floods inundated the town of Kalaw in Shan, where more than 100 people are missing, according to local sources. In the nearby town of Pekon, 21 people were killed, some of whom were part of the local groups fighting against the army. The ethnic Karenni militia announced on Friday that 18 doctors drowned in Kayin state and were swept away by the floods. About 20 communities in the administrative region of the capital Naypyidaw are also in urgent need of assistance and rescue efforts. The typhoon exacerbated the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, which has already displaced more than 3 million people, while the economy is in a difficult situation. Yagi is expected to move away from Myanmar in the coming days, but another tropical depression is expected in the western Pacific. Pope Francis expressed his solidarity with the people of Vietnam and Myanmar, who are facing the severe and catastrophic consequences of Typhoon Yagi, in an address to the faithful after the Angelus prayer yesterday, September 15. The Pope prayed for the dead, for their families and for the aid workers. "I pray for the dead, the injured and the displaced. May God be with those who have lost their families and their homes and bless those who bring aid," he said. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 16/9/2024)

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