Flooded streets, landslides: How Typhoon Yagi has devastated Vietnam’s capital Hanoi

Typhoon Yagi has brought damage and destruction to northern Vietnam. As many as 197 people have died and over 125 are missing as the Southeast Asian country reels from flash floods and landslides.

Vietnam’s capital Hanoi continues to face the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, described as Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year. Several districts in the capital continue to be flooded on Thursday (September 12) with the country’s weather agency reportedly predicting little change in the water levels of the engorged Red River over the next 24 hours.

Typhoon Yagi batters Vietnam

Typhoon Yagi made landfall on Saturday (September 7) in Vietnam, packing winds of up to 149 kph. Yagi, which was earlier categorised as a super typhoon, was later downgraded to a tropical depression.

While it weakened on Sunday, it triggered a deluge of rainfall that led to landslides and river flooding.

As per BBC, the typhoon left 24 people dead across southern China and the Philippines before hitting Vietnam. It has also inundated parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

Nine people have been confirmed dead in northern Thailand, reported AFP.

Vietnam is the worst-affected with Yagi leaving hundreds dead and about 800 injured.

Impact on Hanoi

Several Hanoi districts remain inundated even though flood waters from the Red River have abated slightly.

In Hanoi’s Tay Ho district, people were forced to cross streets covered in knee-deep muddy brown water, with some using small boats to get around, reported Associated Press (AP).

On Wednesday, thousands of people living in low-lying areas in Hanoi, near the swollen Red River, were evacuated as the waters surged to a 20-year high, according to the Reuters report.

Power cuts were reported in some districts due to safety concerns, while a “flood alert” was declared for 10 of Hanoi’s 30 administrative districts, as per BBC.

According to the United Nations children’s agency (Unicef), Yagi destroyed more than 140,000 homes across Vietnam’s 26 provinces.

“This is the worst flood I have seen,” Hanoi resident Tran Le Quyen told Reuters. “It was dry yesterday morning. Now the entire street is flooded. We couldn’t sleep last night.”

The typhoon and its aftermath have led to the flooding of 200,000 hectares of rice and cash crop fields in the country.

“High flooding water levels have flooded riverside and low-lying areas, eroded dykes and threatened parts of Hanoi and other northern provinces,” Vietnam’s government’s disaster management agency said in a report.

Speaking to AFP, a farmer on the edge of Hanoi said his entire 1,800 square metre plantation of peach blossom was submerged, with all 400 trees destroyed.

“It will be so hard for me to recover from this loss – I think I will lose up to $40,000 (Rs 33,58,434) this season. I really don’t know what to do now, I’m just waiting for the water to recede,” the farmer said.

Hanoi is reportedly witnessing the worst flooding in two decades.

Landslides and intense floods continue to affect many areas north of the capital, as per state media.

“I never thought my house would be under water this deep. My clothes and furniture are all under the water. Many things were floating around too but luckily I closed the doors so nothing was washed away,” Hoang Van Ty outside his home in Thai Nguyen province told Reuters.

Clean-up efforts have begun in the province, which houses Samsung Electronics’ largest smartphone manufacturing plant in Vietnam, after flood waters receded in some areas.

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Destruction in other areas

Dramatic visuals of a steel bridge collapsing in Phu Tho province over the Red River emerged on Monday, plunging 10 cars and trucks, along with two motorbikes, into the swollen river.

In mountainous Cao Bang province, a landslide swept a bus with 20 people into an inundated stream, reported AP.

A flash flood swept away an entire hamlet in the northwestern Lao Cai province on Tuesday, killing 46 people and leaving dozens missing. Authorities said Thursday the search for 55 missing people in Nu Village was on.

Hoang Thi Bay, one of 63 survivors in Lang Nu, told AFP that she held on to a pillar to not get swept away.

“I looked out of the window and saw a huge amount of land coming towards me,” she said. “I ran out to our kitchen, and clung tightly to a concrete pole. Our wooden stilt house was destroyed.”

Lao Cai province is home to the popular trekking spot of Sapa. Landslides have blocked many roads in the province, Sapa tour guide Van A Po told AP. “It is very scary,” he said.

The typhoon blew off the roofs of several factories in Haiphong and Quang Ninh provinces, disrupting production.

Experts blame climate change for storms becoming more intense and destructive. Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, told AP 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”.

As Vietnam grapples with the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi, several countries, including Australia, Japan, South Korea and the US, have promised aid.

With inputs from agencies