As dawn broke on September 7, people in the coastal provinces of the North were preparing to face the strongest storm in 3 decades – Yagi . Originating from the East Sea, the super typhoon headed straight for the Gulf of Tonkin with wind gusts of level 13-14.
Not long after, Quang Ninh and Hai Phong became the first places to suffer nature's wrath.
The first moments in Quang Ninh
At 10am on September 7, the Quang Ninh seaport was covered in mist, with no horizon in sight. Waves rose high, hitting the faces of fishermen still lingering at the Ha Long fishing wharf market.
On the coastal road, there were only a few motorbikes hurrying towards the shelter. Down at the port, Mr. Thanh and his wife anxiously watched the fishing boat – the family’s business – being tossed by the strong wind.
Just a few minutes later, they realized that the authorities’ warning to “not stay on the boat” was well-founded. Typhoon Yagi came ashore with terrible winds. The wind howled in gusts, gusting so hard that it seemed like it was about to blow people away. The couple’s boat sank right at the edge of the harbor, one of 25 boats that sank due to the storm in Quang Ninh, according to statistics from the authorities.
During Typhoon Yagi, being able to stand on the shore and watch your boat sink is sometimes considered a blessing. In Mong Cai, a fishing boat broke its anchor and drifted away, with a fisherman still on board who did not have time to jump ashore.
Inside Ha Long City, the corrugated iron roofs could not withstand the wind and were flying, making a loud screeching sound on the asphalt. After the corrugated iron, the glass windows of the high-rise buildings were blown away in pieces by the wind. The wind blew through the cracks in the windows, creating a terrifying screeching sound.
Working in the city, Dan Tri reporters witnessed two taxis parked at a hotel on a hill being blown off course by the storm. A guest staying at the hotel was also nearly blown away, but was luckily saved by the receptionist.
Quang Ninh province, with about two decades of infrastructure "transformation", has just undergone an unprecedented test of the durability of its iconic structures.
Within hours, the coal-black glass panes of the Quang Ninh Museum were shattered by the storm. Across the square, the “Dolphin Palace” – the city’s most distinctive structure – had its aluminum roof ripped off by the wind.
An entire bay with limestone blocks standing like walls was not enough to protect Ha Long from the terrible winds of Typhoon Yagi. Many electric poles in the city fell down. Roofs were blown off many houses. Fallen trees blocked the road, causing traffic to stagnate.
Electricity was cut off and phone signal was unstable. Quang Ninh was wracked by storms from noon to night on September 7.
Hai Phong in turmoil
While the storm was sweeping through Quang Ninh, Hai Phong residents also felt the fierce winds. At noon on September 7, the Hai Phong Department of Transport issued an order banning vehicles from crossing Binh Bridge, Hoang Van Thu Bridge, Kien Bridge, Tan Vu - Lach Huyen Bridge and Ben Rung Bridge.
From the 6th floor of an old hotel on the Do Son coast, the reporter felt the room shaking. A wall in the southwest corner of the hotel collapsed, glass doors shattered. Wind and rain rushed straight into the rooms through the holes.
“The wind will change direction continuously when the storm hits. It will start with a southwest wind, then change to an east wind, and only when the south wind blows will the storm end,” the elderly security guard told reporters.
Along Nguyen Huu Cau Street (the main road of the district), trees and billboards were broken and felled everywhere. Notably, many metal lamp posts were also blown down by the wind because the poles were hung with many advertising boxes and decorative objects...
By the afternoon of the same day, electricity was cut off in many places in Hai Phong city. Telephone and internet signals were also interrupted.
“Before the storm, I had prepared, packed up my goods, and secured the door. However, the storm’s power was too great, beyond my and everyone’s imagination,” said Ms. Huong, owner of a costume rental shop in Do Son. The storm blew off the roof of her shop and tore off the shutters.
At the Do Son Industrial Park, many factories had their roofs blown off, damaging the goods inside. Workers gathered in front of the industrial park gate, unable to enter the factory because of the deep flood. They just looked inside with anxious eyes because of the fear of losing their jobs.
On the streets of Hai Phong, authorities and residents are busy dealing with the aftermath of the storm. The first priority is to clear the roadway for traffic, followed by cleaning up scrap and collecting property blown away by the storm.
Hanoi is in chaos
After sweeping through coastal provinces, storm Yagi continued to cause damage in Hai Duong, Hung Yen and then made landfall in the capital Hanoi.
Before the storm hit, Hanoi had already recorded a death due to a tree falling during a thunderstorm. When the storm arrived, the entire city was littered with fallen trees, and another person died after being crushed by a tree.
At noon on September 7, all public transportation in Hanoi, including trains and buses, stopped operating.
By the afternoon of September 7, people in the capital began to feel the terrible wind force of the storm. Although it had rubbed against the ground and significantly weakened, the storm's wind force was still too much for trees and many infrastructure works in the capital to withstand.
Due to the impact of thunderstorms and storms on the evening of September 7, some areas in Hanoi suffered widespread power outages. Of these, 12 110kV power lines had problems, only one 110kV Xuan Mai transformer station lost power, and was resolved immediately during the night of September 7 and early morning of September 8.
In the city, some level 4 houses were destroyed by the storm. Apartment residents also encountered many problems such as collapsed ceilings, broken glass doors, rainwater flooding into the house...
According to statistics, the storm knocked down 24,800 trees in Hanoi, killing 4 people and injuring 17 others.
Severe consequences from a 30-year storm
After the storm passed on the morning of September 8, provinces and cities began to enter the recovery phase. Rescue forces were deployed to the most affected areas to help people.
On the afternoon and evening of September 8, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited Quang Ninh and Hai Phong to visit the people and encourage the functional forces of the two provinces. Before that, he requested the localities to immediately provide reserve rice to the people, so that no one would lack food, clothing, or shelter.
According to statistics as of 6 p.m. on September 8, Typhoon Yagi had killed 21 people and injured 229 others. 8,017 houses were damaged, 25 boats of all kinds sank at anchorages in Quang Ninh; Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, and Hanoi suffered widespread power and communication outages.
More than 120,000 hectares of rice and crops were flooded and damaged after the storm. 5,000 hectares of fruit trees in Hai Phong, Thai Binh, and Hung Yen were damaged. Tens of thousands of trees in the North were broken, about 17,000 in Hanoi alone.
In Quang Ninh and Hai Phong, the aftermath of the storm is still in full swing. Clearing up fallen trees, electric poles and cleaning up the streets will take days.
On September 8, the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Youth Union announced the mobilization of volunteers to support the northern provinces in overcoming the consequences of Typhoon Yagi. The first 100 volunteers are expected to depart from Hue on the afternoon of September 9.
Although Typhoon Yagi has dissipated into a tropical depression, its circulation continues to cause prolonged heavy rains in many northern mountainous provinces. The risk of landslides and flash floods remains very high, threatening the lives of thousands of people in areas with weak soil near mountain slopes.
According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, Typhoon Yagi is the strongest storm in the past 30 years in the East Sea.
In just 24 hours, the storm increased to level 8. Normally, when passing Hainan Island into the Gulf of Tonkin, storms often weaken quickly, but with storm number 3, the intensity did not decrease quickly, when approaching the coast of Quang Ninh - Hai Phong, it still maintained the intensity of level 12-13. The time the storm stayed on land was long (12 hours).
Storm path on September 7:
– 5am: Storm center in the Gulf of Tonkin; 190km from Quang Ninh – Hai Phong; level 14.
– 6am: Storm center is 160km from the coast of Quang Ninh – Hai Phong; level 14.
– 7am: Storm Yagi center is 153km from Quang Ninh – Hai Phong; level 14.
– 8am: Storm center is 132km from Quang Ninh – Hai Phong, maintaining level 14.
– 10am: Storm in the sea area of Quang Ninh – Hai Phong, reduced to level 13.
– 11:30: Storm Yagi approaches the coast of Quang Ninh – Thai Binh.
– 12:00: Storm Yagi center is on the sea of Quang Ninh – Hai Phong; wind force level 13, gust level 16.
– 13:00: Storm makes landfall in Mong Cai (Quang Ninh), level 12-13, gust level 16.
– 15:00: Storm center on land in Quang Ninh – Hai Phong. Storm maintains wind strength (level 12-13) and moving speed (15-20km/h).
– 4pm: Storm center on land in Quang Ninh – Hai Phong. Strongest wind level 11-12, gust level 15.
– 19:00: Storm center on land in Hai Duong province.
– 22:00: Storm center on land in Hanoi city.
Dantri.com.vn
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/hanh-trinh-tan-pha-mien-bac-cua-sieu-bao-yagi-20240909010821805.htm
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