In the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, Vietnam is counting its losses and facing flooding. For 15 hours between Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September, the whirlwind that topped 150 km/h tore through Halong Bay, devastated part of the port city of Haiphong and swept away trees and roofs in Hanoi, the capital, before heading north to the mountain town of Sapa, 1,600 metres above sea level, famous for its ethnic minority villages and rice terraces. The typhoon was later downgraded to tropical depression on Sunday.
According to the latest count on Tuesday, September 10, at least 63 people have died and 40 are still missing. The actual number of victims of the typhoon was initially relatively low thanks to the precautions taken by a population warned in advance, but it was made worse by the consequences of the floods: twenty people died on Monday in a bus that was thrown into a river by a landslide in the mountainous province of Cao Bang, in the north of the country.
At least 10 people went missing that same day after a metal truss bridge built in 1995 over the Red River collapsed in Phu Tho province, north of Hanoi: the wind was no longer blowing, but the force of the current is believed to have carried one of the bridge’s pillars away. Video taken from a car approaching the bridge shows a dump truck tilting towards the river as the platform collapses almost 60 metres. The motorcyclist following it stops, in shock, before cautiously advancing on foot towards the huge hole. The alarming level of the river led the authorities to restrict from Tuesday the circulation of heavy vehicles on the Chuong Duong bridge, one of the most important in Hanoi.
tangle of beams
An entire section of the semi-rural hinterland that covers the north of the capital was under water, sometimes up to the first floor of houses. In Hanoi, the army had to be sent in to clear roads of debris from rooftops and destruction caused by 17,000 fallen trees (the municipality has 1.8 million and the city centre 8,000). These included the African mahogany that adds charm to the streets of the old quarter but had been criticised for its tendency to blister pavements and break in storms. The municipality had planned to replace them in 2017, but this work was postponed.
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