Typhoon Yagi caused $1.6 billion in economic losses in Vietnam, state media said Monday, as the UN's World Food Programme said the deadly floods it triggered in Myanmar were the worst in the country's recent history. Yagi battered Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand with powerful winds and a huge dump of rain over a week ago, triggering floods and landslides that have killed more than 400 people, according to official figures.
It tore across Vietnam's densely populated Red River delta -- a vital agricultural region that is also home to major manufacturing hubs -- damaging factories and infrastructure, and inundating farmland. The typhoon caused an estimated 40 trillion dong ($1.6 billion) in economic losses, state media reported, citing an initial government assessment.
The death toll in Vietnam stands at 292, with 38 missing, more than 230,000 homes damaged and 280,000 hectares of crops destroyed, according to authorities. In Myanmar, the ruling junta has reported 113 fatalities and said that more than 320,000 people have been forced from their homes into temporary relief camps. "Super Typhoon Yagi has affected most of the country and caused the worst floods we have seen in Myanmar's recent history," Sheela Matthew, WFP's representative in Myanmar, said in a statement, without giving precise details.
Sign up to get our free daily email of the biggest stories! Exact details of the impact on agriculture were not yet clear, she said. "But I can say for sure that the impact on f.