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CatastropheChina

Typhoon Yagi hits Vietnam, deaths reported in China

September 7, 2024

Vietnamese authorities warn Yagi is "one of the most powerful" typhoons threatening the region over the past decade, despite it losing some of its strength after hitting China.

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A worker walks past a damaged area caused by Super Typhoon Yagi in Haikou, China
Over 800,000 households suffered power outages due to Typhoon YagiImage: CNS/AFP

The powerful Typhoon Yagi reached Vietnam on Saturday, after killing two people and injuring 92 others in China.

In Vietnam, the super typhoon brought wind speeds exceeding 149 kilometers per hour (92 miles per hour), state media reported, uprooting thousands of trees and sweeping ships and boats out to sea.

Before the typhoon landed, strong winds brought down a tree, killing one person in the capital Hanoi. 

Super Typhoon Yagi reaches northern Vietnam

The typhoon also caused the closure of four airports, including in Hanoi and Haiphong. Power outages were reported in large parts of Quang Ninh and Thai Binh provinces.

Yagi made landfall in the southern Chinese island of Hainan the day before.

The storm lashed "Hainan with heavy rain and gusty winds, leaving at least two dead and 92 injured," Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua said, citing local authorities.

How has Yagi affected Hainan?

Yagi packed maximum sustained winds of some 234 kph (145 mph) near its center when it made landfall in China on Friday, plucking trees and flooding roads. It caused power outages in over 800,000 households.

Some 420,000 Hainan residents were relocated before the storm reached the Chinese coast.

Yagi paralyzed the island of over 10 million people on Saturday, as all public transportation links in Hainan remained broken. The tourist island's main airport in Haikou was closed until 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Super Typhoon Yagi hits China's Hainan island

Yagi reaches other parts of China, Vietnam

In the neighboring Guangdong province, over 574,000 residents were evacuated before the storm made a second landfall in the province's Xuwen County on Friday night.

Over 270 people sought refuge at Hong Kong's temporary government shelters on Friday. Yagi also caused the cancellation of over 100 flights in the city.

People ride scooters past falling trees in China
Some 420,000 residents of Hainan were evacuated due to the typhoonImage: CNS/AFP

On Saturday, as the typhoon moved further away from Haikou, the city's meteorological observatory downgraded its typhoon signal from red to orange.

Chinese meteorological authorities said the storm has slightly eased to Category 3 typhoon from Category 4, coming in at 187 kph (116 mph).

On Saturday afternoon (local time), it reached Vietnam. The path of the typhoon could take it near the UNESCO heritage site Halong Bay and the Gulf of Tonkin.

Ahead of the landfall, Vietnamese authorities described Yagi as "one of the most powerful typhoons in the region over the past decade."

rmt/dj (AFP, AP, Reuters)