Scores killed by Asia’s most powerful storm of the year

Updated Sept. 8, 2024, 10:06 p.m. ET.

At least 24 people were killed in Vietnam as the region’s most powerful storm of the year swept across the north of the country, the government said.

Of those who died, nine people were killed by the storm, the Tien Phong news site reported on Monday without providing details, while 12 died in landslides and three were swept away by floods.

Typhoon Yagi made landfall on Vietnam’s north coast on Saturday, battering Quang Ninh and Hai Phong with winds of up to 149 kilometers (92 miles) per hour and injuring 229 people. Rescuers are still searching for three missing people as the storm was downgraded.  

More than 8,000 homes were damaged by winds which tore down power and telecommunications lines, according to the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority.

Waves as high as 4 meters (13 feet) sank 25 boats and swept away fish farms.

Torrential rainfall – as much as 400 millimeters (16 inches) in some provinces – destroyed more than 120,000 hectares (297,000 acres) of rice and other crops.

Vietnam’s meteorological agency downgraded Yagi to a tropical depression Sunday, allowing Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport  to reopen.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Quang Ninh province and the port city of Hai Phong on Sunday, ordering the government to provide authorities with 100 billion dong (US$4.1 million) each in emergency assistance, state-run media Voice of Vietnam said. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc set aside 20 billion dong ($813,000) to fund disaster recovery in Son La and Dien Bien provinces.

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Yagi first hit the Philippines a week ago, killing at least 20 people, before tearing across the Chinese island of Hainan. It was the strongest autumn typhoon to make landfall in China since 1949, according to the Xinhua news agency. Four people were killed in Hainan and 95 were injured, China’s Global Times reported.

Scientists say extreme weather, fueled by rising temperatures, will have an increasing impact on the region in coming years.

“Science, including by the Earth Observatory of Singapore  (EOS) has shown that storms are 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,” EOS Director Professor Benjamin Horton told Radio Free Asia.

“Climate change is causing storms to potentially move to different locations, with EOS studies showing a shift in the latitude where storms reach peak intensity, exposing new areas to storm impacts, particularly towards the poles; this is primarily due to warming ocean temperatures expanding the tropical climate zones where storms form.”

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Updated to add comments by Earth Observatory of Singapore Director Benjamin Horton.