Typhoon Yagi hit northern Vietnam Saturday afternoon. Authorities closed airports and evacuated those who were most vulnerable. The Vietnamese Meteorological Authority described the typhoon Yagi as “one of most powerful typhoons over the last decade in the region.” It made its way into the Southeast Asian nation after it left nearly a 100 people injured and three dead in the Chinese Province of Hainan.
Yagi landed with wind speeds as high as 149 kilometres (92 miles) per hour in Vietnam’s coastal provinces Quang Ninh & Haiphong. According to state media, Yagi landed with winds up to 149 kilometres (92miles) per hour. Local media reported Saturday that strong winds had felled a large tree in Hanoi’s capital before landing. The woman who died was the result.
Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Quang Ninh, and it’s known for its towering limestone islands. Local media reported hundreds of cruises cancelled at the popular destination before the typhoon arrived. Haiphong, a hub of industry, is home to large factories including VinFast, a maker of electric vehicles, and Pegatron, a supplier to Apple.
The typhoon caused power outages throughout large parts of Quang Binh and Thai Binh provinces. The government issued several warnings and evacuated people who were vulnerable to flooding or landslides. Four airports including Hanoi and Haiphong were closed.
Authorities in Hanoi pruned trees to make them less likely to fall, but wind and rainfall knocked down several as well as billboards in the northern cities. Local media reported that a number of moored boat were swept away to sea.
Yagi hit the Chinese city of Wenchang, in Hainan Province on Friday afternoon. Wind speeds near its center reached up to 245 kph. According to the Global Times, the authorities said that the typhoon had killed three people and injured 95 others. It also affected more than 1.2 million people by noon Saturday.
Hainan residents were evacuated in large numbers before the typhoon made landfall. Guangdong evacuated another half amillion people before Yagi made a 2nd landfall in the province’s Xuwen County, on Friday night. As the typhoon moved away, the Haikou Meteorological Observatory downgraded their typhoon alert from red to orange.
Yagi, the typhoon that hit Hong Kong last Friday, forced more than 270 Hong Kong residents to seek refuge in temporary government shelters. In addition, over 100 flights were cancelled. Heavy rains and strong winds brought down dozens of trees. Stock market trading, bank services, and schools were all halted.
Yagi, which was still a hurricane when it blew into the South China Sea from the northwest Philippines on Wednesday, left at least 20 dead and 26 missing. This was mainly due to landslides and widespread floods and affected more than 2.3 millions people in the northern and central provinces.
More than 82.200 people were forced to leave their homes, and for days, classes, work, inter island ferry services, and domestic flights were affected, including in the densely-populated capital region of metropolitan Manila. A UN climate report warns that storms are fueled by warm ocean waters. As the oceans become warmer due to climate change, intense typhoons will become more common in Southeast Asia.
