Typhoon Yagi hits Vietnam after wreaking havoc in China, Philippines

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Sep 2024 09:45

The Vietnamese government says authorities evacuated more than 50,000 people from coastal towns and deployed 450,000 military personnel.

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This picture shows swept motorbikes with the debris of destroyed waiting lounges on the shore after Super Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long Bay, in Quang Ninh province, on September 8, 2024. (AFP)

Asia's most powerful storm of the year made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, the National Meteorological Agency reported, leaving at least four people dead after sweeping through China’s Hainan Island and the Philippines, Reuters reported on Saturday.

Super Typhoon Yagi struck the northern districts of Vietnam around 1 pm local time (0600 GMT), with wind speeds reaching up to 160 kph (99 mph) at its center. The storm had weakened from its peak of 234 kph (145 mph) when it hit Hainan a day earlier.

As of 5 pm, government officials confirmed that four people had died, with 78 others injured due to the typhoon. Additionally, state media reported that at least a dozen individuals were still missing at sea.

Yagi had already caused fatalities in other regions, claiming at least two lives in Hainan and 16 in the Philippines, the first country it struck after forming east of the archipelago earlier in the week.

Vietnam’s coastal city of Haiphong, an industrial center with a population of 2 million and home to factories of multinational companies, as well as local automaker VinFast, was one of the hardest-hit areas. Wind speeds reached up to 90 kph, causing widespread damage.

Authorities reported that as the storm approached, Haiphong and at least three other northern provinces experienced major power outages on Saturday.

According to a Reuters eyewitness, strong winds shattered windows and coastal waves surged as high as three meters in Haiphong. Local media showed images and footage of metal roofing sheets being blown away, and the government reported thousands of fallen trees and widespread damage to homes across northern Vietnam.

🇻🇳#Vietnam #China #typhoonYagi Tifón Yagi vientos sostenidos de más de 200km/h impactando en Vietnam: Super Typhoon Yagi is making landfall in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong. Some damages already occurred. Houses were uproofed while glass and iron sheets flew like papers. Some cars… pic.twitter.com/SCZp8T7VPT
— worldnews24u (@worldnews24u) September 7, 2024

Earlier, in Hainan, home to more than 10 million residents, the storm uprooted trees, flooded streets, and caused power outages in over 800,000 households.

Vietnamese authorities evacuated more than 50,000 people from coastal towns and deployed 450,000 military personnel, according to the government. Four airports, including Noi Bai in Hanoi—northern Vietnam’s busiest airport—were shut down for several hours, resulting in the cancellation of more than 300 flights.

High schools across 12 northern provinces, including the capital Hanoi, home to 8.5 million people, were also closed. Authorities there suspended public transportation services, including buses and the city's two elevated metro lines, as a precautionary measure. The meteorological agency warned of heavy flooding risks in the city’s center.

Scientists attribute the increasing intensity of typhoons to warmer oceans, driven by climate change.

Just last week, Typhoon Shanshan struck southwestern Japan, marking the most severe storm to hit the country in decades.