This is the most powerful typhoon to hit the north of the country in thirty years. Typhoon Yagi has killed at least 59 people in northern Vietnam, according to a new report published by official media on Monday, September 9. “September 9th at noon [heure locale, 7 heures à Paris]The death toll from Typhoon Yagi has risen to 59, of whom 44 died in landslides and flash floods.reported the site VNEXpressA few hours earlier, authorities had reported 247 injuries.
The storm, which made landfall in Quang Ninh and Haiphong provinces on Saturday before weakening on Sunday, caused major flooding, power outages, bridge collapses, damage to factories and ripped tin roofs off houses, with gusts of over 149 km/h.
“The situation is very serious”said Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, in a statement. “Localities must be active in supporting and ensuring the safety of residents and their property”He added that around 1.5 million people were still without electricity on Monday.
In Phu Tho province, northeast of the capital Hanoi, the Phong Chau road bridge, suspended over the Red River, broke on Monday morning, dragging several vehicles down with it. Images broadcast by state media showed the imposing lattice structure falling into the murky waters of the Red River, which swallowed it up. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc announced that thirteen people were missing after the accident, according to the website. VNExpressThere were ten cars and trucks, as well as two motorcycles, on the bridge when it collapsed, he said.
In neighbouring Yen Bai province, rising waters forced 2,400 households to seek shelter on the upper floors of their homes. Water reached a height of one metre in some parts of Yen Bai city.
“Disaster”
According to natural disaster management authorities, some 130 locations in 17 cities and provinces in Vietnam are at high risk of flooding and landslides. In northern Vietnam, power outages affected 5.7 million customers on Saturday and Sunday, according to the national electricity provider, EVN.
This region, crucial to the country’s economy, is home to factories supplying major electronics groups such as Samsung and Foxconn, whose products are transported around the world, in particular via the port of Haiphong.
The passage of the typhoon caused a “disaster” for businesses in the region, Hong Sun, president of the South Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, told Agence France-Presse. “During the typhoon there was a power outage, so some companies had to close their factories, which meant they had to spend a lot of money and time to reconfigure all the machinery.”described.
Susumu Yoshida of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam said the roof of an electronics company had been torn off and products had been flooded.
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Six people, including a newborn and a one-year-old child, were killed in a landslide in the northwestern town of Sa Pa on Sunday. Before reaching Vietnam, Typhoon Yagi passed through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens.
According to a study published in July, typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more quickly and staying on land longer due to climate change.
