Vietnam puts Typhoon Yagi economic losses at $3.3 billion

HANOI: Vietnam suffered $3.3 billion in economic losses as a result of deadly Typhoon Yagi, which swept across the country’s north earlier this month causing hundreds of fatalities, state media reported Saturday.

Yagi battered northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar in early September, triggering floods and landslides that left more than 700 people dead.

Officials have calculated that economic losses in Vietnam amount to $3.3 billion, state media said in reports on a government meeting about the consequences and lessons learned from the disaster.

A total of 299 people were killed and 34 reported missing in Vietnam, while officials in junta-ruled Myanmar have confirmed 433 fatalities with 79 still missing.

The typhoon was the strongest to hit northern Vietnam in decades, bringing powerful winds and a deluge of rain to the country’s densely populated Red River delta.

The vital agricultural region is also home to major manufacturing hubs, and the storm damaged factories and infrastructure, and inundated farmland.

More than 390,000 houses were damaged or flooded, more than 345,000 hectares of crops were damaged and 5.6 million head of poultry were killed due to Yagi, figures from the Vietnam’s agriculture ministry said.

Six million children across the region were affected by the storm, according to the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, with access to clean water, education, healthcare, food and shelter all compromised.

Vietnam is prone to tropical storms, which often bring deadly flash floods and landslides, hitting the country between June and November every year.

But human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.