Super Typhoon Yagi hits Vietnam killing over 290, with 38 others missing - 17 inches of rain in 24 hours (UPDATES)

France 24
Sat, 07 Sep 2024 11:37 UTC

© NHAC NGUYEN

Water is whipped up by high winds onto the shore of Phuong Luu lake as Super Typhoon Yagi hits Hai Phong

Super Typhoon Yagi uprooted thousands of trees and swept ships and boats out to sea, killing one person, as it made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, after leaving at least 23 dead through southern China and the Philippines.

The typhoon hit Hai Phong and Quang Ninh provinces, packing winds exceeding 149 kilometres (92 miles) per hour, Vietnam's National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.

In the Hai Duong province, a man was killed when heavy winds brought down a tree as the storm approached landfall, according to state media.

In Hai Phong, AFP reporters encountered streets filled with fallen trees, metal roofing and broken signboards that had been ripped off properties.

"It has been years since I witnessed a typhoon this big," said Tran Thi Hoa, a 48-year-old woman from Hai Phong.

"It was scary. I stayed indoors, after locking all my windows. However, the sound of the wind and the rain was unbelievable," she told AFP.

Powerful winds

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Yagi brought winds of more than 230 kilometres (143 miles) per hour, uprooting trees and prompting the evacuation of around 460,000 people.

At least three people were killed and 95 injured in southern China after the storm hit Hainan and Guangdong provinces on Friday, state news agency Xinhua said, citing local authorities.

Before hitting the mainland of Vietnam, the typhoon unrooted hundreds of trees on Co To island, about 80 kilometres from mainland Quang Ninh.

Several office buildings, schools and houses on the island were unroofed by the powerful winds.

Signboards lay scattered around the island, while electrical lines were snapped and tangled by the wind.

Local authorities said the typhoon was the most severe to hit the island in decades.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on local authorities to evacuate residents from dangerous areas before the storm hit. He also urged other residents to stay indoors.

Evacuated

Around 20,000 people have been evacuated and moved to safer, higher ground in the north of Hai Phong, Thai Binh, and Hanoi, local authorities reported.

Many are being sheltered in schools, kindergartens, and other public buildings.

More than 457,000, many of who are professional men, were mobilised by the Ministry of Defence's rescue and relief department to deal with the fallout from the typhoon.

Some 2,000 vehicles and six planes have been sent to deal with the situation.

Northern Vietnam has been experiencing heavy rains and strong winds since Friday evening, including in the capital, Hanoi.

Four airports in northern Vietnam, including Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, have been closed, while sailing has been banned since Friday.

The storm killed at least 20 people and left 26 missing after sweeping over the Philippines earlier this week, according to the latest toll from the country's disaster management agency.

Yagi caused flooding and landslides on the main island of Luzon before transforming into a super typhoon in recent days.

Southern China is frequently hit by typhoons in the summer and autumn, which form in the warm oceans east of the Philippines and Thailand.

AFP

Comment: Update September 9

Al Jazeera reports:

At least 59 people have been killed in Vietnam amid landslides and floods triggered by Typhoon Yagi, according to state media reports.

The typhoon was Asia's most powerful storm this year and made landfall on Vietnam's northeastern coast on Saturday, after causing havoc in China and the Philippines.

Among the victims were six people, including a newborn baby and a one-year-old boy, who were killed in a landslide in the Hoang Lien Son mountains of northwestern Vietnam.

Their bodies were discovered on Sunday, a local official told the AFP news agency.

Other victims included a family of four who were killed after heavy rain caused a hillside to collapse onto a house in mountainous Hoa Binh province in northern Vietnam, state media reported.

On Monday morning, a passenger bus carrying 20 people was swept into a flooded stream by a landslide in mountainous Cao Bang province.

Rescuers were deployed, but landslides blocked the path to where the incident took place.

In Phu Tho province, rescue operations were continuing after a steel bridge over the engorged Red River collapsed.

Reports said 10 cars and trucks, along with two motorbikes, fell into the river.

Three people were pulled out of the river and taken to hospital, but 13 others were missing.

The Vietnamese government said the storm disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong in the northeast.

The weather agency on Monday warned of more floods and landslides, noting that rainfall had ranged between 208mm and 433mm (8.2 inches to 17 inches) in several parts of the region over the past 24 hours.

"Floods and landslides are damaging the environment and threatening people's lives," the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said in a report.

Yagi weakened to a tropical depression on Sunday, but several areas of the port city of Hai Phong were under half a metre (1.6 feet) of water and there was no electricity.

At Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site about 70km (43 miles) up the coast from the city, the disaster management authority said 30 vessels sank after being pounded by strong wind and waves.

The typhoon also damaged nearly 3,300 houses, and more than 120,000 hectares (296,500 acres) of crops in the north of the country, the authority said.

Update September 17

Reuters reports:

Vietnam is preparing for more flooding with a tropical depression forecast to strengthen into a storm as it heads to its central coast, days after typhoon Yagi set off floods and landslides that killed more than 290 people in the north.

With a long coast facing the South China Sea, the Southeast Asian country is prone to tropical storms that can cause large numbers of casualties and serious damage to industrial production and properties.

The depression is forecast to strengthen into a storm within the next 24 hours, the government said in a statement, as it sent a warning to coastal provinces.

The storm would trigger heavy rains in central Vietnam, it said, adding that "the depression is evolving in a complicated manner, with possible changes in course, speed and strength."

Vietnam has been reeling from the impacts of Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, which made landfall in its northeastern coast 10 days ago.

The typhoon and its subsequent floods and landslides have killed 291 people overall, with 38 others missing and nearly 2,000 people injured, the disaster management agency said on Tuesday.

Industrial production in several northern provinces was halted, 235,000 houses were damaged and more than 300,000 hectares of rice and cash crops were inundated.