A general view of a beach in Do Son district, Hai Phong City, Vietnam, on September 7, 2024, reveals the severe aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, which battered northern Vietnam over the weekend. Since making landfall on Saturday afternoon, Typhoon Yagi has claimed nine lives and left 186 people injured, according to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Sunday morning.
The typhoon, described as the most powerful storm to strike northern Vietnam in the past three decades, brought widespread devastation. The fatalities included three people from the coastal province of Quang Ninh, one from the northern province of Hai Duong, one from the port city of Hai Phong, and four from the northern province of Hoa Binh. The storm also left 186 injured, with the majority, 157, coming from Quang Ninh. Thirteen people were injured in Hai Phong, ten in Hanoi, five in Hai Duong, and one in Hoa Binh.
In the coastal province of Quang Ninh, 25 unmanned vessels, mainly fishing boats, were sunk by the large waves and strong winds generated by the storm. The typhoon also caused widespread power outages across multiple provinces, including Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, and the capital city of Hanoi. Damaged transformers and transmission lines left many areas in darkness.
In addition to the loss of life and injuries, the storm caused significant property and agricultural damage. Nearly 3,300 homes were destroyed or heavily damaged, while 121,500 hectares of rice paddies and other crops were wrecked. Over 5,000 hectares of fruit trees were also damaged, along with more than 1,000 aquaculture cages used for fish farming, according to the ministry’s report.
Typhoon Yagi’s devastation is the latest in a series of natural disasters that have plagued Vietnam in 2024. The country, prone to storms, landslides, and flooding, has already experienced severe losses from natural disasters this year. As of August 5, 111 people had been reported dead or missing due to various weather-related incidents, marking the highest death toll in the same period in five years, according to the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
The damage from Typhoon Yagi is expected to add to these already staggering numbers, as the country faces the ongoing challenges of rebuilding homes, restoring power, and recovering from the destruction of its agricultural sectors. With climate change increasingly intensifying weather events in the region, Vietnam remains vulnerable to future storms and disasters.