Typhoon Yagi: Asia's Most Powerful Storm of the Year Devastates Vietnam
Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful storm to hit Asia this year, has caused widespread destruction across northern Vietnam, resulting in at least 35 deaths and 24 people missing, primarily due to landslides and floods. The preliminary figures were released on Monday as the storm continued to wreak havoc.
Making landfall on Vietnam’s northeastern coast on Saturday, Typhoon Yagi struck a region crucial to both domestic and international manufacturing. By Sunday, the storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression by meteorologists, but the damage had already been substantial.
The typhoon’s impact has been severe, cutting power to millions of homes and businesses, flooding highways, disrupting telecommunications, and causing significant infrastructure damage including the collapse of a medium-sized bridge and the uprooting of thousands of trees. Many industrial operations, particularly in Haiphong—a coastal city housing a population of two million—have been halted.
In Haiphong, industrial parks and factories are grappling with extensive damage. Workers and managers reported widespread power outages and efforts to protect equipment from rain after metal roofing was torn away. Bruno Jaspaert, head of DEEP C industrial zones, which host plants from over 150 investors, described the situation as chaotic, with teams working to secure sites and dry stocks.
The storm also caused damage at South Korea’s LG Electronics factory in Haiphong. While no employees were reported injured, the company acknowledged significant damage, including flooding in a warehouse containing refrigerators and washing machines.
Hong Sun, chairman of the South Korean business association in Vietnam, reported extensive damage to Korean factories in the coastal areas affected by the typhoon, highlighting the storm’s severe impact on the region’s economic activities.
