Typhoon Yagi blasted over northern Vietnam on Tuesday, killing 63 people and leaving 40 missing. Emergency workers scrambled to evacuate thousands of residents from devastating floodwaters.
According to meteorologists, Yagi reached northern Vietnam on Saturday with winds exceeding 149 kilometers (92 miles) per hour, making it the most powerful typhoon to hit the region in 30 years.
The storm collapsed bridges, ripped roofs off buildings, wrecked factories, and caused widespread flooding and landslides.
The north of the country, which is highly populated and serves as a key industrial hub for global tech companies like as Samsung, is currently experiencing severe floods, with numerous cities substantially submerged.
In the early hours of Tuesday, one-story homes in Thai Nguyen and Yen Bai cities were almost fully inundated, with people waiting for aid on the roofs.
Rescuers attempted to reach residential areas in order to recover elderly and children. On social media, relatives of those trapped in floodwaters made desperate requests for rescue and supplies.
Communities near the swelling and fast-moving Red River, which flows through Hanoi, were also partially submerged, forcing many to leave.
Phan Thi Tuyet, 50, who lives near the river, said she’d never seen such high water.
“I have lost everything, all gone. I had to come to higher ground to save our lives. We can not bring with us any of the furniture. Everything is under water now.”
As well as the dead and missing, flooding and landslides have also injured at least 752 people, officials at the ministry of agriculture said Tuesday.
Bridge collapse
Heavy vehicles were barred from crossing a major bridge over the Red River in central Hanoi on Tuesday, and a rail route across the Long Bien bridge was paused as the water level climbed.
The incident followed the stunning collapse of a bridge higher up the river in northern Phu Tho province on Monday.
According to images on official media, half of the 375-meter Phong Chau bridge had collapsed.
Five individuals who were crossing the bridge at the time were rescued, while eight others remained missing Tuesday, according to authorities.
Forecasters predicted flooding in central Hanoi later Tuesday.
The storm has also caused power outages and substantial disruptions at factories in northern Vietnam, which is a major manufacturing hub for global electronics companies like Samsung and Foxconn.
At least 24 people were killed as Yagi ripped through southern China and the Philippines before striking Vietnam.
Typhoons in the region are forming closer to the coast, intensifying faster, and remaining over land for longer periods of time as a result of climate change, according to a study released in July.