Vietnam typhoon death toll rises to 233 as more bodies found in areas hit by landslides and floods

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The death toll in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam climbed to 233 on Friday as rescue workers recovered more bodies from areas hit by landslides and flash floods, state media reported.

Flood waters from the swollen Red River in the capital of Hanoi were beginning to recede, but many neighborhoods remained inundated and farther north, experts were predicting it could still be days before any relief is in sight.

Typhoon Yagi made landfall Saturday, setting off heavy rains that have triggered flash floods and landslides, particularly in Vietnam's mountainous north. Across the country, 103 people are still missing and more than 800 have been injured.

In a village on the outskirts of Hanoi, Nguyen Thi Loan returned to the home that she'd hastily fled on Monday as the floodwaters rose. Much of A Lac village was still under water, and as she surveyed the damage, she wondered how she and others would manage.

“The flood has made our lives so difficult,” she said. “Our rice crop has been destroyed and at home the electrical appliances like the washing machine, TV and fridge are under water.”

Most fatalities have come in the province of Lao Cai, where a flash flood swept away the entire hamlet of Lang Nu on Tuesday. Eight villagers turned up safe on Friday morning, telling others that they had left before the deluge, state-run VNExpress newspaper said. However, 48 others from Lang Nu have been found dead, and another 39 remain missing.

Roads to Lang Nu have been badly damaged, making it impossible to bring in heavy equipment to aid in the rescue effort.

Some 500 personnel with sniffer dogs are on hand, and in a visit to the scene on Thursday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh promised they would not relent in their search for those still missing.

“Their families are in agony,” Chinh said.

Coffins were stacked near the disaster site in preparation for the worst, and villager Tran Thi Ngan mourned at a makeshift altar for family members she had lost.

“It's a disaster,” she told VTV news. “That's the fate we have to accept.”

In Cao Bang, another northern province bordering China, 21 bodies had been recovered by Friday, four days after a landslide pushed a bus, a car and several motorcycles into a small river, swollen with floodwaters. Ten more people remain missing.

Experts say storms like Typhoon Yagi are getting stronger due to climate change, as warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel them, leading to higher winds and heavier rainfall.

The effects of the typhoon, the strongest to hit Vietnam in decades, were also being felt across the region, with flooding and landslides in northern Thailand, Laos and northeastern Myanmar.

In Thailand, 10 deaths have been reported due to flooding or landslides, and Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra flew to the north on Friday to visit the border town of Mae Sai. Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation warned of a continuing risk of flash floods in multiple areas through next Wednesday, as new rain was expected to increase the Mekong River's levels further.

In Myanmar, the army said Friday that at least 33 people died across the country since Wednesday. It said 187 relief camps have been established for nearly 240,000 flood victims from 34 townships.

There are fears the death toll may rise sharply as local news outlets reported dozens missing in floods and landslides in the central regions of Mandalay and Bago, as well as eastern Shan State and the country's capital, Naypyitaw.

International aid has been flowing into Vietnam in the aftermath of Yagi, with Australia already delivering humanitarian supplies as part of $2 million in assistance.

South Korea has also pledged $2 million in aid, and the U.S. Embassy said Friday it would provide $1 million in support through the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

“With more heavy rain forecast in the coming days, USAID’s disaster experts continue to monitor humanitarian needs in close coordination with local emergency authorities and partners on the ground,” the embassy said in a statement. “USAID humanitarian experts on the ground are participating in ongoing assessments to ensure U.S. assistance rapidly reaches populations in need.”

The typhoon and ensuing heavy rains have damaged factories in northern provinces like Haiphong, home to electric car company VinFast, Apple parts suppliers and other electronic manufacturers, which could affect international supply chains, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a research note.

The center said 95% of businesses in Haiphong were to resume some activity on Sept. 10 but that "repair efforts will likely lower output for the next weeks and months.”

Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok contributed to this report.

A Thai military helicopter drops relief supplies to flood victims and a rescue worker uses jet skis to search for victims in flooded areas in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sarot Meksophawannakul)

A rescue worker uses jet skis to search for victims in flooded areas in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sarot Meksophawannakul)

A man wades in chest deep flood in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A woman cleans her house as flood recedes in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

This photo shows houses submerged in flood in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A man wades in flood carrying brooms to clean up houses as flood starts to recede in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A woman wades in flood in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

People clean their house after flood recedes in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

People sit on a boat to get to their flooded homes in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

People sit on a boat to get to their flooded homes in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

People wade through floodwaters in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sarot Meksophawannakul)

People use boats to get to their flooded homes in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A man wades in flood carrying brooms to clean up houses as flood starts to recede in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A man paddles a boat in the flood in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in An Lac village, Hanoi, Vietnam Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, foreground right, visits as rescue work is underway after a flash flood buries a hamlet in mud and debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in Lao Cai province, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)

Rescue workers and a sniff dog search for the missing after a flash flood buries a hamlet in mud and debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in Lao Cai province, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)

Rescue workers search for the missing after a flash flood buries a hamlet in mud and debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi in Lao Cai province, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (Duong Van Giang/VNA via AP)

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn finished 14th position in a super-G on Saturday to mark her return to World Cup skiing at age 40.

Vonn crossed the line 1.18 seconds behind winner Cornelia Huetter.

It was the American standout’s first World Cup race after nearly six years of retirement.

Vonn is planning to race another super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday.

Vonn had to cut her career short in 2019 due to a series of crashes and injuries, but then she had knee replacement surgery in April and had two titanium pieces inserted into her right knee. Her knee feels better than it has in years, so she decided to come back.

Vonn left the tour with 82 World Cup wins — the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the then all-time Alpine mark of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed in January 2023 by American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has an outright record 99 wins.

Shiffrin, who shares the record of five wins in St. Moritz with Vonn, isn’t racing this weekend as she recovers from abdominal surgery to clean out a puncture wound she sustained in a crash last month.

Vonn took advantage of a new wild card rule that allows former champions to enter races without the necessary points.

Eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher also took advantage of the wild card rule and returned this season after five years away. But then Hirscher tore his left ACL while training in giant slalom and announced earlier this month that his comeback season was done.

Vonn is attempting to enter unchartered territory in terms of success at an advanced age in women’s skiing.

The oldest woman to win a World Cup race was Federica Brignone, the Italian who won the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October to start this season, at age 34.

The oldest man to win a race was Didier Cuche at 37 in a super-G in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in 2012.

Johan Clarey set the record for the oldest podium finisher with a second-place result in the famed Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, at age 42 in January 2023.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn, right, is congratulated by Red Bull Head of Athletes Special Projects Patrick Riml after she competed in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn, right, smiles after completing an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Til Buergy/Keystone via AP)

United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Lindsey Vonn does a course inspection before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Lindsey Vonn concentrates during the course inspection before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Lindsey Vonn concentrates during the course inspection before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)