Nearly 200 dead in Vietnam as typhoon batters the country's north regions

The death toll from a flash flood in north Vietnam , that swept away an entire hamlet, rose to at least 179 on Wednesday.

Flood waters from the swollen river reached a metre high in parts of Hanoi , forcing some residents to navigate their neighbourhoods by boat.

"My home is now part of the river," Nguyen Van Hung, who lives in a neighbourhood on the banks of the Red River, told Reuters.

Typhoon Yagi, which made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday when nine people were killed, has disrupted thousands of lives.

It is said to have been the biggest typhoon to hit Vietnam in two decades, with devastating flash floods battering the north until Tuesday when a torrent of water gushed down from a mountain in the Lao Cai province.

It buried the Lang Nu hamlet, leaving 35 families in mud and debris.

The death toll in north Vietnam has since climbed to 179, with approximately 145 people having gone missing - mostly due to the floods and landslides .

Rescuers have recovered 30 bodies, however, dozens of others are still being searched for.

Roads have been blocked by landslides and unrelenting rainfall, according to tour guide Van A Po from Sapa, a popular trekking destination in Lao Cai.

With tourism a key engine in the community, many in the industry have ultimately found themselves stranded.

Nguyen Van Luong, who works in a hotel told the Associated Press: “The road is badly damaged and landslides could happen anytime. My family told me to stay here until it’s safer to go home.”

The weather has forced many in the area to limit travel, with all trekking suspended.

News of the death toll and situations in the province being exacerbated follows Yagi leaving a trail of destruction in the country’s northern region over the past four days.

A steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed as a bus was swept away earlier in the week.

Reports said 10 cars and trucks along with two motorbikes fell into the river. Three people were pulled out of the and taken to the hospital, but 13 others were missing.

"This is normally a busy bridge, a key bridge in the [Phu Tho] province," a senior official of the province's transport department said, adding there were no reports yet on casualties.