HAI PHONG, Vietnam: Super Typhoon Yagi uprooted thousands of trees, swept ships and boats out to sea and ripped roofs off houses in northern Vietnam on Saturday (Sep 7), killing at least three people, after leaving a trail of destruction in Southern China and the Philippines.
The storm made landfall in Vietnam’s Hai Phong and Quang Ninh provinces, packing winds exceeding 149kmh, Vietnam’s National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.
The death toll in Vietnam from storm-related damage rose to four as roofing torn away by Yagi flew through the air, killing three residents of Quang Ninh, state media said.
A man in Hai Duong province further inland was killed on Friday when heavy winds brought down a tree.
More than a dozen others, believed to be sailors on fishing boats, are missing.
“It has been years since I witnessed a typhoon this big,” said Tran Thi Hoa, a 48-year-old woman from Hai Phong.
“It was scary. I stayed indoors, after locking all my windows. However, the sound of the wind and the rain was unbelievable,” she told AFP.
In Hai Phong, AFP reporters encountered streets filled with fallen trees, metal roofing and broken signboards that had been ripped off properties.
Before hitting Vietnam, Yagi tore through Southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others.
POWERFUL WINDS
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Yagi brought winds of more than 230kmh, uprooting trees and prompting the evacuation of around 460,000 people.
At least four people were killed and 95 injured in southern China after the storm hit Hainan and Guangdong provinces on Friday, CCTV said on Saturday, citing local authorities.
Hainan’s main airport in Haikou was closed until 3pm on Saturday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Authorities in the neighbouring province of Guangdong said on Friday that they had evacuated more than 574,000 residents to safety.
