Typhoon Yagi latest: Strongest storm to hit Asia this year kills 14 in Vietnam and injures hundreds
Authorities warn of ongoing risks, including flooding and landslides, as the storm continues to weaken
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Typhoon Yagi, the strongest storm to hit Asia this year, was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday after killing at least 14 in Vietnam.
The storm caused significant damage in northern Vietnam, China’s Hainan, and the Philippines, killing dozens and injuring several more.
Although the Vietnamese meteorological agency issued the downgrade, they warned of continuing risks, including potential flooding and landslides, as the storm progresses westward.
Strong winds reaching 203 kmph caused extensive damage across northern Vietnam. Buildings were wrecked, vehicles were crushed by debris, and falling trees triggered power outages, including in the capital, Hanoi.
More than 170 people are reported injured.
The government reported that the storm has resulted in at least three deaths in Hanoi, a city of 8.5 million, though these numbers are preliminary. Overall, reports indicate that fourteen people have died in Vietnam so far, including four from a landslide in Hoa Binh province, approximately 100 km south of Hanoi.
In the Philippines, the storm left 20 dead, several more missing, and over two million affected, with landslides and widespread flooding displacing over 47,600 people from their homes.
Hanoi residents prepare for typhoon
Hanoi locals are preparing to feel the wrath of Typhoon Yagi as the weather system makes landfall in Vietnam.
“I am going to stay inside and try and stay safe with my family,” said Bao Ngoc Cao, 24, a businesswoman from Hanoi.
She added that the last time a typhoon this strong hit Vietnam was in 2013 and that storms usually weaken before reaching the capital. “But we still need to be prepared.”
It has killed four people already as it made landfall in the north of the country on Saturday afternoon.
Where is the typhoon?
The typhoon landed at Vietnam’s coastal provinces of Quang Ninh and Haiphong with wind speeds of up to 149 kilometers per hour, state media reported. Before landing, strong winds felled a tree, killing a woman in the capital, Hanoi, local media said Saturday.
Quang Ninh is home to the UNESCO World Heritage site Ha Long Bay, known for its many towering limestone islands. Hundreds of cruises were canceled at the popular site before the typhoon landed, according to local media.
Haiphong is an industrial hub, home to large factories, including EV maker VinFast and Apple supplier Pegatron.The typhoon has also triggered power outages in large parts of Quang Ninh and Thai Binh provinces.
Vietnam orders evacuations and closes airports
Vietnam evacuated more than 50,000 people from coastal towns and deployed 450,000 military personnel, the government said.
It also suspended operations for several hours at four airports on Saturday, including Hanoi’s Noi Bai, the busiest in the north, which cancelled more than 300 flights.
High schools were also closed in 12 northern provinces, including in the capital Hanoi, which has a population of 8.5 million.
Authorities in the capital suspended public transport on buses and its two elevated metro lines on Saturday afternoon, state media reported. The meteorological agency has warned of risks of heavy flooding in the city centre.
Hanoi resident Nguyen Manh Quan, 40, said: “The wind is strong enough to blow a person over,” while Dang Van Phuong, also 40, said: “I’ve never seen a storm like this, you can’t drive in these winds.”
What is the difference between typhoon and hurricane?
Here are a few commonly used weather terms and their definitions, which rely on material from the National Weather Service:
Hurricane or typhoon — A warm-core tropical cyclone in which the minimum sustained surface wind is 74 mph (119 kph) or more. Hurricanes are spawned east of the international date line. Typhoons develop west of the line. They are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia.
Super typhoon — A typhoon in which the maximum sustained surface wind is 150 mph (241 kph) or more.
Tornado — A violent rotating column of air forming a pendant, usually from a cumulonimbus cloud, and touching the ground. On a local scale, it is the most destructive of all atmospheric phenomena. Tornadoes can appear from any direction, but in the U.S. most move from southwest to northeast. Measured on F-scale from EF0 to EF5, which considers 28 different types of damage to structures and trees. An EF2 or higher is considered a significant tornado.
Extreme weather was intensified by climate change, researchers say
Typhoons are becoming stronger, fuelled by warmer oceans, amid climate change, scientists say.
Last week, Typhoon Shanshan slammed into southwestern Japan, the strongest storm to hit the country in decades
Shanshan was likely intensified by climate change, a study from Imperial College London has found. Researchers found that Shanshan’s maximum wind speeds were 7.5 per cent stronger due to a warmer climate.
The study warns that such powerful storms are likely to become more common, potentially occurring nearly six times a decade.
Most major storms in recent years have been found to have made worse due to rising temperatures. Hot water in the ocean is known to intensify tropical storms like typhoons and hurricanes and ocean temperatures have been the highest on record in recent years.
Watch: Typhoon Yagi pulls glass from high-rise buildings
Shocking footage has shown the Typhoon Yagi, one of the most powerful in the region in a decade, making landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday afternoon.
Video footage showed glass being ripped off from buildings by strong winds.
Why are storms getting stronger?
Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore said that storms like typhoon Yagi were “getting stronger due to climate change, primarily because warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel the storms, leading to increased wind speeds and heavier rainfall.”
Climate change was also causing storms to potentially move to different locations with studies by the observatory showing that the latitude where storms peaked in their intensity was shifting, exposing newer areas to the impacts of storms, he added.
Horton said that protecting natural systems ranging from reefs to rivers while building structures that were more resilient to strong winds and flying debris and improving existing infrastructure were all measures that could help countries better deal with strong typhoons.
Watch: Vietnam orders evacuations and closes airports as Typhoon Yagi approaches
Four dead in Vietnam as Yagi makes landfall
Vietnamese authorities have said Typhoon Yagi has now killed at least 4 people and injured 78 others after making landfall after making landfall Saturday afternoon in the north of the country.
Yagi, described by Vietnamese meteorological officials as “one of the most powerful typhoons in the region over the past decade,” made its way to the Southeast Asian country after it left three people dead and nearly a hundred others injured in the Chinese province of Hainan.
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