HONG KONG, Sept 11 (Alliance News): Typhoon Yagi, one of the year’s most powerful storms, made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, following a deadly path through southern China.
The storm, with sustained wind speeds of 230 km/h (140 mph), was a Category 4 equivalent hurricane, making it the second strongest tropical cyclone of 2024, behind Atlantic Hurricane Beryl.
In China, Yagi caused at least four deaths and 95 injuries, with the most severe impacts reported on the holiday island of Hainan.
State media described the storm’s damage as “beyond imagination,” displacing over a million people across Hainan, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces.
After weakening slightly, the typhoon re-intensified to Category 4 before hitting Vietnam, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Hanoi. Northern Vietnam is now bracing for heavy rains, storm surges, and strong winds.
Scientists attribute Yagi’s rapid intensification to the warmer ocean temperatures caused by the climate crisis.
The storm’s destructive power underscores the growing danger of tropical cyclones in the region.
