At least 19 people died and 21 were missing after Typhoon Bualoi battered central Vietnam, unleashing huge waves, floods and fierce winds in the country’s deadliest storm this year.
The typhoon made landfall in Ha Tinh province before dawn on Monday, bringing waves up to eight metres high, gusts strong enough to tear roofs from houses and nearly 300mm of rainfall in just 24 hours.
The government said 88 people were injured and more than 100,000 houses damaged, mostly in Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Over 10,000 hectares of rice and other crops were left under water.
The national weather agency cautioned that flash floods and landslides were still likely as heavy rain continued into Tuesday, stretching north into Hanoi.
Several villages remained cut off without traffic or electricity.
Seventeen of the missing people were reported to be fishermen caught in huge waves off Quang Tri province.
Rescuers said four crew members managed to swim ashore after their vessel broke free from its moorings while others were feared to have drowned.
Families in Gia Lai province reported losing contact with eight fishermen after they failed to return from a trip.
Most of the confirmed fatalities were in Ninh Binh province where winds collapsed homes. One man was killed by a falling tree in Thanh Hoa, while another was swept away by floodwaters in Hue.
The typhoon also tore through the Quang Tri region where roofs were blown off schools and temporary bridges washed away. In Phong Nha, residents described “terrible gusts” of wind and pounding rain that left streets submerged. “No one dares to go out,” one resident told state outlet VNExpress.
Ahead of landfall, authorities evacuated over 28,500 people from vulnerable coastal zones.
Fishing vessels were grounded and four airports, including Da Nang International, suspended operations, disrupting hundreds of flights.
By Monday afternoon, Bualoi had weakened as it moved into Laos, with maximum sustained winds dropping from 117kmph at landfall to around 74kmph.
But forecasters warned the storm’s slow movement risked prolonging heavy rain, raising the threat of landslides in mountainous areas.
Vietnam’s disaster management agency said initial assessments showed 245 houses were destroyed and 1,400 hectares of crops inundated.
Power cuts affected over 347,000 households in the central region. Strong winds toppled concrete pillars and sent sheets of corrugated iron flying across highways.
The Philippines, hit last week as the typhoon built strength, reported at least 20 deaths, mostly from drownings and falling trees.
Bualoi is the second major storm to hit Asia in one week after Super Typhoon Ragasa, which killed dozens in Taiwan and the Philippines before devastating southern China.
Scientists warn that warming seas are fuelling stronger and wetter tropical cyclones, leaving millions across the typhoon belt increasingly exposed to extreme weather.
Vietnam faces several storms every year due to its long South China Sea coastline. In recent decades, typhoons have caused hundreds of deaths and billions of pounds in damage, with recovery efforts often hampered by the nation’s mountainous terrain and vulnerable rural communities.
As rescue operations continued in the country, officials warned that rainfall totals in some provinces could exceed half a metre by midweek.
“Landslides and flash floods are likely to happen in several areas over the next six hours,” the weather agency said late on Tuesday.
