Typhoon Bualoi has killed at least 11 people and left widespread destruction along Vietnam’s coast, authorities said on Monday.
The storm, the tenth to hit the country this year, made landfall late Sunday with winds reaching 130 kilometres per hour. It tore roofs off buildings, uprooted electric poles, and damaged thousands of homes and businesses across three provinces.
Images published by AFP showed twisted corrugated metal sheets scattered across waterlogged streets in Nghe An province.
“The wind blew my roof to the sky and then it fell down, breaking everything. I had to cover my head and rushed to my neighbour’s house to be safe,” said 71-year-old Trinh Thi Le from Quang Tri province, speaking to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Nine people were killed early Monday when a whirlwind linked to the typhoon swept through northern Ninh Binh province, the local disaster agency reported. One person died in Hue and another in Thanh Hoa, while around 20 remain missing.
Among the missing are nine fishermen whose boats were swept away by strong winds and currents on Sunday night, according to police.
More than 53,000 residents were evacuated to schools and health centres converted into temporary shelters before the storm’s arrival, the environment ministry said.
Air travel and transportation were also disrupted. Four domestic airports and part of a national highway were closed, while more than 180 flights were cancelled or delayed. Power cuts affected parts of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, and schools were shut in several areas.
Bualoi has weakened since moving inland and is now heading towards neighbouring Laos.
The storm struck just days after battering islands in the central Philippines, where it killed at least 11 people and forced 400,000 to evacuate.
Vietnam regularly faces severe weather events. Between January and August this year, 175 people were killed or went missing in natural disasters, according to the General Statistics Office. Losses were estimated at $371 million, nearly three times higher than during the same period last year.
Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more intense as global temperatures rise due to climate change. In September last year, Typhoon Yagi killed hundreds in Vietnam and caused $3.3 billion in economic losses.