Millions struggle with floods, power cuts

Hanoi Millions of people across Southeast Asia struggled with flooded homes, power cuts and wrecked infrastructure yesterday after typhoon Yagi swept through the region, as the death toll passed 200.

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In worst-hit Vietnam the fatalities rose to 197, with nine confirmed dead in northern Thailand - where one district is suffering its worst floods in 80 years.

Yagi smashed into Vietnam at the weekend, bringing a colossal deluge of rain that has inundated a swathe of northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering deadly landslides and widespread river flooding.

One farmer told AFP his entire 1800m² peach blossom plantation was submerged, destroying all 400 of his trees.

"It will be so hard for me to recover from this loss - I think I will lose up to $40 000 (about R700 000) this season," said the farmer, known only as Tu.