Typhoon Yagi: More than 140 Dead in Vietnam

By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of residents of Vietnam’s capital living close to the swollen Red River have been evacuated as its waters flooded streets days after Typhoon Yagi battered northern Vietnam, with the death toll rising to at least 143 people.

Yagi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Asia this year, made landfall on the northern coast of Vietnam on Saturday and moved westwards, hitting Hanoi with gales and heavy rain. The storm also hit other provinces up the Red River, the area’s largest, collapsing a bridge on Monday.

An entire village was swept away by a landslide caused by flash flooding in northern Vietnam, killing 16 people and leaving dozens missing, local media reported on Wednesday.

Some schools in Hanoi have told students to stay home for the rest of the week due to flood concerns, while thousands of residents living in low-lying areas have been evacuated, according to sources, government and state media.

Typhoon Yagi also severely damaged a large number of factories and flooded warehouses in northern Vietnam’s export-oriented industrial hubs, forcing plants to shut, with some expected to take weeks to resume full operations, executives said.

The disruptions could affect global supply chains as Vietnam hosts large operations of multinationals that mostly export their products to the United States, Europe and other developed countries.

Before making landfall in Vietnam, Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others.

Typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land for longer owing to climate change, according to a study published in July.