Typhoon Yagi causes dozens of fatalities and trails of destruction as it sweeps through the Philippines, Vietnam and China

ASIA: Dozens of people lost their lives in northern Vietnam, in Hainan, China and the Philippines when Asia’s most powerful storm, typhoon Yagi, swept through the region.

Hainan saw four deaths, and these are preliminary figures: 14 people have died in Vietnam, and in the Philippines, 20 people have died, with 22 still missing. Of the 14 people who died in Vietnam, four died from a landslide in Hoa Binh.

A 53-year-old motorcyclist was killed after a tree fell on him in the northern Hai Duong province. One body was recovered from the sea near Halong, with a dozen people missing at sea. Rescue operations started on Sept 8.

When the typhoon hit landfall in Vietnam, it was equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 127 miles per hour. The storm intensified to a Category 4 storm on Saturday before weakening on Sunday morning.

Yagi made waves as high as four meters (13 feet) in the coastal provinces of Vietnam. The typhoon also resulted in power and telecommunication outages.

The storm sank boats, broke utility poles, and uprooted trees in towns on the coast of Halong Bay, which primarily constitute fishing communities.

Small ships in Quang Ninh were swept away, and some had people onboard. Many homes had their tin roofs completely ripped off.

According to the meteorological department, there is a continued risk of flash floods near small rivers and streams. Landslides on steep slopes in many places in the northern mountainous areas and the coastal province of Thanh Hoa.

Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport reopened on Sunday. It was closed on Saturday morning. The Civil Aviation Authority had suspended flights at four airports on Sunday.

Authorities in coastal cities evacuated more than 48,000 people living in areas affected by the storm.

In China, the storm affected more than one million people in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi, where two people died and more than 90 were injured. It caused high-rise buildings to shake, windows to smash, trucks to overturn, and trees falling and homes collapsing.

In the Philippines, it killed 20 people as it rapidly intensified in the South China Sea into a super typhoon, which is a tropical cyclone with winds reaching 150 mph.

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