Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen Red river as its waters rose to a 20-year high, flooding streets days after Typhoon Yagi battered the country’s north, killing at least 155 people.

Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year, Yagi brought gales and heavy rain as it moved westwards after landfall on Saturday, collapsing a bridge this week while it scythed through provinces along the Red river, the area’s biggest.

“My home is now part of the river,” said Nguyen Van Hung, 56, who lives in a neighbourhood on the banks of the Red river. Across the country, the typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods have killed 155 people while 141 were missing, the government estimated.

Vietnam’s state-run power utility EVN said on Wednesday it had cut off power from some flooded parts of the capital due to safety concerns.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said in a statement that the Red river was at its highest in two decades and that more rain was expected over the next two days. Some schools in Hanoi have told students to stay home for the rest of the week, while thousands of residents of low-lying areas have been evacuated, the government and state media said.

Reuters