By Minh Nguyen GIA LAI, Vietnam (Reuters) -At least five people died in Vietnam after Typhoon Kalmaegi pummelled coastal regions with destructive winds and heavy rain, officials said on Friday, following the storm’s deadly passage through the Philippines where it killed at least 188 people. The typhoon made landfall in central Vietnam late on Thursday, […]
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Typhoon Kalmaegi brings rain and destruction to Vietnam as death toll nears 200 in Philippines
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By Minh Nguyen
GIA LAI, Vietnam (Reuters) -At least five people died in Vietnam after Typhoon Kalmaegi pummelled coastal regions with destructive winds and heavy rain, officials said on Friday, following the storm’s deadly passage through the Philippines where it killed at least 188 people.
The typhoon made landfall in central Vietnam late on Thursday, uprooting trees, damaging homes, and triggering power outages, before weakening as it moved inland.
Authorities have warned of more heavy rainfall of up to 200 millimetres (8 inches) in central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Tri, and said rising river levels from Hue to Dak Lak could trigger flooding and landslides.
‘I AM DESPERATE’
In Gia Lai province, which bore the brunt of the typhoon, shrimp farm owner Nguyen Dinh Sa reported catastrophic losses.
“I went to check them every hour yesterday until evening. I had done everything but could not save them,” Sa, 26, said, lamenting the destruction of around six metric tons of shrimp.
“All my investments are gone. I am so desperate at the moment,” he said. Sa’s two-story warehouse, used for storing shrimp feed, was briefly submerged due to seven-meter-high waves and strong winds, leading to an estimated loss of around 1 billion dong ($37,959.31).
The typhoon left a trail of destruction along the coast, toppling trees, scattering shattered glass and roofing sheets, with residents gathering around generators to recharge their phones.
Vietnam’s disaster management agency reported seven injuries and damage to approximately 2,800 homes. Power outages affected about 1.3 million people, it said.
State-run Vietnam News Agency reported damage to railway infrastructure in Quang Ngai province.
The government mobilised over 268,000 soldiers for search-and-rescue operations and issued warnings about potential flooding that could impact agriculture in the Central Highlands, Vietnam’s main coffee-growing region. Traders said on Friday that the rain had subsided and coffee trees remained unharmed.
PHILIPPINES BRACES FOR NEW TYPHOON
In the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited evacuation centres on Friday, distributing relief aid and assuring victims of continued government support, after Kalmaegi left 135 people missing and injured 96 others.
“We are very, very sorry,” he told provincial officials.
“Most of the victims were carried away by the rushing waters, the sheer volume and speed of the flash floods.”
Kalmaegi is the 13th typhoon to form in the South China Sea this year. Vietnam and the Philippines are highly vulnerable to tropical storms and typhoons due to their locations along the Pacific typhoon belt, regularly experiencing damage and casualties during peak storm seasons.
Scientists have warned that storms such as Kalmaegi are becoming more powerful as global temperatures rise.
The Philippines’ civil aviation regulator has placed all area centres and airport operations under heightened alert in preparation for another storm, Fung-wong, which is forecast to intensify into a super typhoon before making landfall in the northern Philippines on Sunday evening or early Monday morning.
($1 = 26,344.0000 dong)
(Reporting by Thinh Nguyen and Minh Nguyen in Gia Lai, Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi, Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores in Manila; Editing by John Mair)