Typhoon Bualoi kills 54, causes $332m damage in Vietnam
Housing damage has been severe, with 153 homes destroyed and more than 154,000 damaged or unroofed. Ha Tinh alone reported nearly 94,000 damaged houses, while Nghe An counted over 50,000.
Typhoon Bualoi, the tenth storm to strike Vietnam this year, has devastated northern and central regions, leaving at least 54 people dead or missing and causing estimated economic losses of more than VND8.7 trillion (US$332 million).
The Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said torrential rain, landslides, flash floods and strong winds triggered by the storm have battered 18 provinces and cities.
Thirty-four people have been confirmed dead. Nine people were killed by a tornado in the northern province of Ninh Binh on Monday, five died in Thanh Hoa Province, four fishermen perished aboard the vessel BV92754 in Quang Tri Province, and others were reported in several other provinces.
Twenty people remain missing, including four in Lao Cai, three in Cao Bang and four in Tuyen Quang, all northern mountainous provinces, along with eight fishermen from two vessels lost off Quang Tri in central Vietnam.
At least 140 others were injured, with Ninh Binh, Ha Tinh and Nghe An among the worst affected.
Of the initial loss figure of VND8.78 trillion, the central province of Ha Tinh alone accounts for around VND6 trillion and Nghe An more than VND1.6 trillion.
Housing damage has been severe, with 153 homes destroyed and more than 154,000 damaged or unroofed. Ha Tinh alone reported nearly 94,000 damaged houses while Nghe An counted over 50,000.
Floodwaters inundated or destroyed nearly 49,000ha of rice and crops, with the central provinces of Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa, along with the capital Ha Noi, reporting the heaviest agricultural losses. More than 1,500 livestock and 380,000 poultry perished, while 13,300ha of aquaculture farms were damaged, most of them in Nghe An and Thanh Hóa.
The storm also battered infrastructure. Authorities reported 25 dyke incidents across seven provinces, more than 3,000 cases of flooding and landslides disrupting transport and almost 20km of river and coastal embankments eroded, most severely in Hue City.
The power grid was badly hit, with 8,294 utility poles toppled, particularly in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Nearly 2.7 million households lost electricity; as of Wednesday afternoon, supply had been restored to about 1.93 million, leaving more than 774,000 still without power. Telecommunications also suffered, with 268 communes cut off from the government’s data transmission network and over 1,100 mobile base stations knocked offline.
More than 63,000 roadside trees were uprooted, especially in the central region of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Quang Tri. Schools were not spared either, with 1,130 educational facilities damaged or disrupted, including 480 in Nghe An and 427 in Ha Tinh.
Viet Nam News
Asia News Network
