Myanmar’s junta has made a rare request for foreign aid as the country battles devastation in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which has so far killed 74 people, with 89 reported missing. Around 65,000 homes, 5 dams and 4 pagodas have also been destroyed. The typhoon, which earlier left a trail of destruction in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and parts of China, has struck Myanmar at a time when thousands are displaced on account of the country’s three-year civil war.
The flooding in Myanmar has impacted more than 450 villages and wards, as per CNN.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that heavy rains brought by the storm have significantly impacted the capital Naypyidaw, as well as the Mandalay, Magway, and Bago regions. Additionally, Typhoon Yagi has affected eastern and southern Shan State, Mon, Kayah and Kayin states. “Central Myanmar is currently the hardest hit, with numerous rivers and creeks flowing down from Shan hills,” OCHA said, as quoted by Reuters.
Media reports suggest some deaths are yet likely unreported, adding that it is difficult to gather data due to damaged infrastructure and downed phone and internet lines.
“Officials from the government need to contact foreign countries to receive rescue and relief aid to be provided to the victims,” army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said, according to an Al Jazeera report that quoted from the state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Saturday.
Myanmar’s military, the Al Jazeera report added, has “previously blocked or frustrated humanitarian assistance from abroad”.
About a third of Myanmar’s 55 million people reportedly require humanitarian, but many aid agencies, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, cannot operate in several areas due to the restrictions to access and security risks, Reuters reported.
Yagi is the strongest storm to hit Asia this year. In Vietnam, the death toll from Typhoon Yagi has risen to at least 226, with the storm causing flash floods as well as landslides, the government’s disaster agency said Thursday, according to CNN.
