By Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio
HANOI (Reuters) -Several Hanoi districts remained flooded on Thursday with the weather agency forecasting little change in water levels of the Red River over the next 24 hours, as floods and landslides continued to affect areas across northern Vietnam.
The country is reeling from the impact of Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, which made landfall on Saturday. At least 197 people have been killed since the storm struck and 128 are missing, the government’s disaster management agency said. Some 800 people have been injured.
“High flooding water levels have flooded riverside and low-lying areas, eroded dykes and threatened parts of Hanoi and other northern provinces,” the agency said in a report.
The city earlier evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen river as its waters rose to a 20-year high.
“There’s a lot of heartbreak in the city and there was a lot of concern going into the evening,” said charity Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation co-CEO Skye Maconachie. “Many people who barely had anything have lost everything.”
“It’s going to be a long journey of recovery, especially for replacing people’s livelihoods and getting them into safe and clean homes,” he said.
North of Hanoi, landslides and severe floods are still affecting several areas, state media reported.
“I never thought my house would be under water this deep,” said Hoang Van Ty outside his home in Thai Nguyen province.
“My clothes and furniture are all under the water. Many things were floating around too but luckily I closed the doors so nothing was washed away.”
Thai Nguyen province is home to Samsung Electronics (KS:)’ largest smartphone manufacturing plant in Vietnam. Flood waters have receded in some parts of the province where clean up efforts are now taking place.
In Lao Cai province, authorities on Thursday were rushing to search for 55 people missing in a flash flood that swept Nu Village on Tuesday, Vietnam News Agency reported.
The flash flood killed 46 people and injured 17 others in the village, the agency reported, adding that 300 soldiers and 359 local officials are joining the search and rescue effort.
The landslides and floods have inundated more than 200,000 hectares of rice and cash crop fields across northern Vietnam, the disaster management agency said.
The typhoon has also disrupted power supplies and blown off roofs of several factories in Haiphong and Quang Ninh provinces, halting production.
Several countries, including Australia, Japan, South Korea and the U.S., have said were sending aid to Vietnam.
