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A deadly typhoon, which tore roofs from buildings, has resulted in the deaths of dozens across Vietnam and the Philippines, according to officials from both nations. The storm, now weakened, has moved into neighboring Laos.
Last week, the typhoon struck central Philippine islands, causing trees and power lines to fall, triggering floods, and necessitating the evacuation of 400,000 residents.
A representative of the Philippine civil defense reported on Monday that the number of deaths had risen significantly to 24, with most fatalities resulting from drowning or being struck by debris.
Experts caution that storms are intensifying in strength due to global warming, which is driven by human-induced climate change.
In Vietnam, Bualoi came ashore as a typhoon late on Sunday, producing wind speeds of 130 kph (80 mph).
Thousands of houses and businesses were damaged or destroyed in the country’s centre and north, and at least 11 people were killed, Vietnamese authorities told Agence France-Presse.
Images published by AFP showed corrugated metal roofs blown off buildings and household debris strewn across saturated streets in Vietnam’s coastal Nghe An province.
“The wind took my roof up to the sky, then it crashed down, destroying everything. I had to shield my head and hurried to my neighbor’s home for safety,” recounted Trinh Thi Le, 71, from central Quang Tri province, to the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Powerful storms
At least nine people were killed when a typhoon-related whirlwind swept through northern Ninh Binh province early on Monday, according to the local disaster agency.
One person was killed in the province of Hue and another in Thanh Hoa, while about 20 were missing, local and national disaster authorities reported.
Among those unaccounted for were nine people whose fishing boats were lost at sea Sunday night after their vessels came loose from their moorings during strong winds and currents, police said.
Prior to Bualoi’s arrival in Vietnam, over 53,000 individuals were relocated to schools and medical facilities, which were transformed into emergency shelters, as per the environment ministry.
Four domestic airports and part of the national highway were closed on Monday. More than 180 flights have been cancelled or delayed, airport authorities said.
Parts of Nghe An and the steel-producing central province of Ha Tinh were without power and schools were closed in affected regions.
Since making landfall in Vietnam, Bualoi has weakened as it moved across the border into Laos.
It came on the heels of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which killed 14 people across the northern Philippines.
The country is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking disaster-prone areas where millions of people live in poverty.
In Vietnam, 175 people were killed or went missing due to natural disasters from January to August this year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
Total damages were worth about US$371 million ($565 million), almost triple the amount of the same period in 2024, the GSO said.
Typhoon Yagi killed hundreds of people in Vietnam in September last year and caused economic losses worth US$3.3 billion ($5.03 billion).
