Super Typhoon Yagi wreaked havoc in Vietnam, leaving at least nine people dead and causing widespread destruction as it tore through the northern region over the weekend.
According to the AFP, the storm, which earlier battered southern China and the Philippines, triggered landslides, sank boats, and ripped roofs off buildings.
Among the victims was a family of four in Hoa Binh province, who were buried by a landslide in the early hours of Sunday. The landslide, triggered by hours of torrential rain, engulfed their home around midnight, local media reported.
The 51-year-old homeowner survived, but his wife, daughter, and two grandchildren did not. Rescue workers recovered their bodies shortly after the disaster.
Yagi made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, bringing wind speeds of over 149 kilometers per hour (92 mph), devastating infrastructure and uprooting trees across multiple provinces.
Four more fatalities occurred on Saturday as debris, including roofing materials, flew through the air, according to disaster management authorities.
In Hai Duong province, a man was killed Friday when a tree collapsed under the force of the typhoon’s powerful winds. The storm also left several areas of Hai Phong, a key port city, submerged in floodwaters up to half a meter deep.
Power outages were widespread, with damaged electric poles and downed power lines, according to reports from the area.
At Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site, fishermen and boat crew members assessed the extensive damage on Sunday morning.
“The wind was so strong, no boat could withstand it,” said Pham Van Thanh, a 51-year-old crew member who had remained on board his tourist vessel since Friday to prevent it from sinking. “I have been a sailor for more than 20 years and have never experienced such a strong and violent typhoon.”
In total, at least 23 boats were either severely damaged or sank at the Hai Au boat lock on Tuan Chau island, local residents reported. Throughout the region, roofs were torn off buildings, and motorbikes lay scattered in the streets, amid rubble and shattered glass.
Yagi had already caused significant devastation before reaching Vietnam, leaving at least 24 dead and dozens injured as it swept across southern China and the Philippines.
The storm’s intensity and impact are part of a worrying trend, with typhoons in the region forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly, and lingering over land longer due to climate change, according to a recent study published in July.
