Typhoon Yagi causes damage to infrastructure, industries in Vietnam Via Reuters
Written by Francesco Guarascio and Minh Nguyen
HANOI/HAIPHONG (Reuters) – Asia’s strongest typhoon this year, Typhoon Yagi, was downgraded to tropical depression on Sunday, after wreaking havoc in northern Vietnam, destroying factories and infrastructure in export hubs.
Vietnam’s meteorological agency released the report on Sunday but warned of a continuing risk of flooding and landslides as the typhoon, the strongest to hit the country in decades, moves westward.
On Saturday, Yagi disrupted electricity and communications in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, causing massive flooding, uprooting thousands of trees and damaging homes.
The typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods killed 21 people in Vietnam and injured 229, according to preliminary government estimates, after killing four people on the southern Chinese island of Hainan and 20 in the Philippines, the first country to hit. last week.
In Haiphong, a coastal Vietnamese city of 2 million with multinational factories, industrial parks remained closed on Sunday, workers and management told Reuters.
One was filled with water, the workers said they were sent back to their homes after they tried to go to work without knowing what the situation was like in their areas because the communication networks had not yet returned.
“The damage to the factories is very significant. Some have lost their roofs or entire facades,” said Bruno Jaspaert, head of industrial estates for DEEP C, which manages plants from more than 150 investors in Haiphong and neighboring Quang Ninh province.
He said at least 80% of the factories were damaged but the industrial parks were never flooded.
“It may take a month if things go well before I fully recover from the damage,” said Do Van Truong, a 45-year-old shop owner in Haiphong, noting that the roof of his seafood shop collapsed while electricity and water were not restored.
Several roads in the north of the country were flooded or severely disrupted, state media reported, publishing photos and images of landslides.
HAZARD OF FLASH INJURY
After it made landfall in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon, Yagi caused waves of up to 4 meters (13 feet) in coastal provinces, leading to power outages and communications blackouts that made it difficult to assess the damage, the government said.
The National Weather Service warned of continued “risk of flooding” in areas along the river, including Hanoi.
As the winds subsided, authorities in Hanoi rushed to clear the streets of fallen trees scattered in the city center and other neighboring areas.
“The typhoon destroyed the city. Trees fell on people’s houses, cars and people on the street,” said 57-year-old Hanoi resident Hoang Ngoc Nhien.
Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport, the busiest in northern Vietnam, reopened on Sunday after being closed on Saturday morning.
