Typhoon Wutip battered central Vietnam with fierce winds and heavy rains, leaving five people dead and two missing, according to official reports. The storm also caused widespread flooding of farmland across the region.
Making landfall in southern China on Saturday, Wutip’s winds reached speeds of up to 128 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour). After crossing the Gulf of Tonkin, it was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved inland.
Vietnam’s agriculture ministry reported that three people lost their lives in Quang Tri province, while two others died and two remain missing in Quang Binh province. The storm flooded more than 70,000 hectares, or roughly 172,000 acres, of cropland.
On the Chinese island of Hainan, authorities evacuated thousands of residents, shut down schools, and halted rail services as a precaution ahead of the storm’s landfall.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasted that Wutip would weaken further and likely dissipate by the end of the weekend.
This storm adds to the increasing severity and frequency of natural disasters linked to climate change. Last year, Vietnam experienced a record 514 fatalities from weather-related events three times more than in 2023, according to the agriculture ministry.
In September, northern Vietnam was hit hard by Typhoon Yagi, which resulted in 345 deaths and caused economic damages estimated at 3.3 billion dollars.
+ There are no comments
Add yours