News / Asia

Death Tolls Rise From Southeast Asia Flooding

A Thai boy plays at a flooded area in Bangkok, Thailand. Hundreds of people have died across Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Asia in the last four months from prolonged monsoon flooding, typhoons and storms, October 3, 2011.
A Thai boy plays at a flooded area in Bangkok, Thailand. Hundreds of people have died across Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Asia in the last four months from prolonged monsoon flooding, typhoons and storms, October 3, 2011.
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Death tolls are rising across Southeast Asia, where millions of people have been affected by flooding caused by powerful typhoons and record monsoon rains.

Hundreds of people have now died in the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Cambodian officials said Monday the worst flooding in 11 years has forced thousands of people to evacuate and killed more than 200 people since the start of September.

Disaster management official Gnim Wada said the government's priority is to help the public to recover from the worst flooding most have ever seen.

In Thailand, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ordered government agencies Monday to prepare to evacuate people from 10 central provinces.  Monsoon rains, floods and landslides have killed more than 250 people in the kingdom since July.

Philippine officials say 101 are now confirmed dead after Typhoons Nesat and Nalgae tore across the island of Luzon on September 27 and October 1.  Another 27 people are missing, raising fears that the death toll could rise.

And in Vietnam, disaster officials say the worst flooding in a decade has killed 24 people, mostly children.

In Cambodia, grocery shop owner Sien Kimsien said his children are getting rashes on their hands and feet. "It is so difficult to sell things with these floods, and my children have gotten sick. They are getting rashes on their hands and feet. So I'm urging the government and any international organization to help, by giving some medicine to us for treatment,'' he said.

He appealed for the government and international organizations to provide any help they can.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement of condolences on Friday to all who have lost friends, family and loved ones in Southeast Asia.  Clinton said American embassies in the region are working with local authorities and international organizations to assess how the U.S. can help.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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