The government of Vietnam has confirmed the death of multiple individuals due to the impact of Typhoon Yagi, along with the subsequent landslides and floods it provoked. With an official warning of further potential flooding issued on Monday, the storm that struck Vietnam’s north-eastern shoreline over the weekend is believed to be the strongest experienced in Asia this year. The widespread impact of the typhoon evident in various regions, including Quang Ninh and Haiphong, resulted in significant disturbances to electricity and communication networks.
Late Sunday night the government issued a statement confirming at least 49 fatalities with 22 individuals still unaccounted for. Meteorological authorities noted an alarming degree of rainfall over the last 24 hours, intensifying their warnings about potential landslides and flooding. According to their observations, rainfall in the affected area ranged from 208mm to 433mm.
The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting emphasized in their report that lives are at risk with the accelerating damage being inflicted on the environment by consistent landslides and flooding. On Monday, a Phu Tho province bridge reportedly collapsed though there have been no casualty reports to date. Information from local officials implies that there were eight vehicles present on the structure during the incident.
A warning bulletin from the forecasting centre has highlighted four provinces on high-alert status for flood potential; Lang Son, Cao Bang, Yen Bai, and Thai Ngyen.
The power of the typhoon diminished into a tropical depression on Sunday. State media reported that a family of four fell victim to a hillside collapse due to intense rainfall in Hoa Binh, a mountainous province in northern Vietnam. The national defence ministry’s disaster management agency reported that storm-related incidents have been responsible for a majority of the fatalities, with various victims crushed by drifting boats and falling trees.
The north-western Hoang Lien Son mountains witnessed a disastrous landslide on Sunday, where heavy rainfall and strong winds after Typhoon Yagi’s Saturday landfall resulted in six deaths. The victims included a newborn baby and a one-year-old toddler.
A representative from the committee of the Sapa locals, who wished to remain anonymous, informed Agence France-Presse that a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall had claimed the lives of six individuals, including a toddler and an infant. The rainfall had softened the ground, causing the disaster.
Fishermen in Ha Long Bay, a renowned Unesco world heritage site, were left in a state of shock as they surveyed the damage done by the typhoon on Sunday. The country’s disaster management authority reported that 30 boats had sunk in the lock areas of the coastal Quang Ninh province which hugs the Bay, due to the impact of powerful winds and waves.
Furthermore, the typhoon had wreaked havoc on nearly 3,300 homes and over 120,000 hectares of crop fields in the northern regions of the country, according to the disaster management authority. The typhoon named Yagi, prior to reaching Vietnam, had wrought destruction in southern China and the Philippines, resulting in a minimum of 24 fatalities and numerous individuals injured.
As per a recent study published in July, climate change is causing typhoons to form nearer to the coast, intensify more swiftly and lingering over land for extended periods in the region. – Guardian.