Typhoon Yagi: Vietnam Hit by Deadly Storm, Dozens Killed in Year’s Most Powerful Typhoon
Département de recherche, d’études stratégiques et de relations internationales 09-09-2024
Authorities warn of further floods and land slides following 299 injuries from the storm, which struck on Sunday.
At least 24 people have lost their lives, and 299 others were injured as Typhoon Yagis we ptacross northern Vietnam over the weekend. The storm, considered the strongest to hit the regionthisyear, broughtwithitwidespreaddevastation, according to government reports.
Makinglandfall on Vietnam’snorth-easterncoast on Saturday, Yagicausedsignificant damage to infrastructure, cutting off power and disruptingtelecommunications in several areas, mostnotably Quang Ninh and Haiphong. The National Centre for Hydro-MeteorologicalForecastingissued warnings on Monday of continuedflooding and landslides, withrainfalltotalsrangingfrom 208mm to 433mm (8.2in to 17.1in) recorded in parts of the region over the last 24 hours.
“Floods and landslides are posingseriousenvironmentalrisks and endangeringlives,” the weatheragencynoted in itslatest report. Several provinces, including Lang Son, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, and Thai Nguyen, are atheightenedrisk of furtherfloods, the agencywarned. By Sunday, Yagihadweakenedinto a tropical depression, but the destruction itleftbehindwasstill apparent.
One of the storm’stragic incidents involved a family of four who were killed when heavy rain fall caused a hillside to collapse onto their home in the mountainous Hoa Binh province. Mean while, other deaths occurred from storm-related incidents such as falling trees and capsizedboats, according to the defence ministry’s disaster management agency.
In anotherlandslide in the Hoang Lien Son mountains in north-western Vietnam, six individuals, including a newborn and a one-year-oldchild, werekilled on Sundayafternoon. “The rainwasrelentless, whichweakened the soil and triggered the landslide,” a local official in Sapa reported.
In the iconic Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site, fishersweredevastated by the damage. Strongwinds and wavessank 30 vessels in Quang Ninh province’scoastal areas on Sundaymorning. The typhoonalsodestroyednearly 3,300 homes and ravaged more than 120,000 hectares of cropsacrossnorthern Vietnam.
Before reaching Vietnam, Typhoon Yagihadalreadywreakedhavoc in southern China and the Philippines, whereitclaimedat least 24 more lives and injuredmanyothers.
A recentstudysuggeststhattyphoons in the region are growingstronger and more frequent due to climate change, formingcloser to the coast and lasting longer over land. This trend couldexplain the rapid intensification of stormslikeYagi and theirprolonged impact on the affectedregions.
