PYINMANA, Myanmar - Hundreds of villagers in Myanmar waded or swam through chin-high waters, fleeing severe floods around remote capital Naypyitaw on Sept 13, as Vietnam began clearing up after Typhoon Yagi.

A swathe of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar has been battling floods and landslides in the wake of Typhoon Yagi, which dumped a colossal deluge of rain when it hit the region last weekend.

The overall death toll across the four countries stands at 280, including 233 in Vietnam and 36 in Myanmar – but with many people still missing, it is expected to rise further.

Myanmar’s national fire service on Sept 13 confirmed the new death toll, up from 17, while more than 50,000 people have been forced from their homes.

“We walked through neck-high water this morning,” one woman in Sin Thay village told AFP.

“We are very hungry and thirsty. It’s been about three days that we haven’t had food.”

Soldiers rescued residents of flooded villages in the complex network of rivers and creeks surrounding the sprawling, low-rise capital, with some forced to wade through deep and muddy brown waters.

Houses and nearby banana and sugar cane plantations were submerged.

“This is the very first time I have experienced such a flood,” a man said near the village, where people had gathered near a small bridge.

“We didn’t have time to prepare. It was a very scary experience.”

State media said flooding in the area around the capital had caused landslides and destroyed electricity towers, buildings, roads, bridges and houses.

In Mandalay region, one group of villagers rode elephants to reach dry land, in footage posted on social media.

Hanoi clear-up

In Vietnamese capital Hanoi, residents equipped with shovels, brushes and hoses were out clearing up debris and mud in the streets after waters that had submerged parts of the city receded, and the sun came out for the first time in days.

The Red River through Hanoi reached its highest level in 20 years earlier this week, as rain brought by the typhoon funnelled out towards the sea.

“This was the highest flooding I’ve ever seen. It was more than 1m high on our first floor,” resident Nguyen Lan Huong, 40, told AFP.

“The water started to recede yesterday afternoon, so we began cleaning up bit by bit. But it will take days for our family to fully recover, and even weeks for the community here, I think.”

A total of 130,000 people have been evacuated in northern Vietnam since Typhoon Yagi hit on Sept 7 – and many have not yet been able to return home – while more than 135,000 homes have been damaged, according to the authorities.

In the deadliest single incident, a landslide wiped out a village in mountainous Lao Cai province, killing 48 people.

But in a rare piece of good news, eight people who had been missing in the landslide and feared dead returned safe. Some had been staying with relatives while others managed to escape in time.

Northern Thailand was also badly affected, with one district at the Myanmar border reporting its worst floods in 80 years.

Officials said on Sept 13 that a death in a landslide in Chiang Rai province had taken the death toll in the kingdom to 10.

Flights to Chiang Rai airport resumed on Sept 13, a day after airlines halted them.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was set to visit Chiang Rai on Sept 13 to see relief efforts, which are being led by the military.

There are flood warnings for several locations along the Mekong River, including Laotian capital Vientiane.

The Mekong River Commission said low-lying areas around Vientiane are expected to be flooded over the next few days. AFP