A landslide triggered by flash flooding in the wake of Typhoon Yagi killed at least 16 people in northern Vietnam and left scores missing, State media reported Wednesday (September 11, 2024).

A total of 128 people were buried in the disaster in the village of Nu, in Lao Cai province, on Tuesday (September 10), multiple reports said, with at least 30 rescued but many more still missing.

Yagi struck Vietnam at the weekend, bringing winds over 149 kilometres (92 miles) per hour and a deluge of rain that has caused flooding not seen in decades, according to locals.

The landslide took place in a remote mountainous area and rescue work is difficult, State-run Tuoi Tre newspaper said, adding there was no internet in the area and traffic was cut off.

Also Read: What causes landslides? Can we predict them to save lives?

“Authorities are mobilising forces to approach the landslide area to continue the search for survivors,” district party chief Hoang Quoc Bao said.

The landslide came as tens of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes on Tuesday, with many stranded on rooftops and posting desperate pleas for help on social media.

Typhoons in the region are forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.

Houses are submerged in flood after typhoon Yagi hit Yen Bai province, northwestern Vietnam on Sunday, Sep. 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

At least 14 people have died and 176 others injured in Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi slammed the country’s north, State media said Sunday (September 8, 2024), as officials warned of heavy downpours despite its waning power.

Described by Vietnamese officials as one of the most powerful typhoons to hit the region over the last decade, Yagi left more than 3 million people without electricity in northern Vietnam. It also damaged vital agricultural land, nearly 116,192 hectares where rice and fruits are mostly grown. Hundreds of flights were canceled after four airports were closed.

The typhoon made landfall in Vietnam’s northern coastal provinces of Quang Ninh and Haiphong with wind speeds of up to 149km per hour (92 miles per hour) on Saturday afternoon. It raged for roughly 15 hours before gradually weakening into a tropical depression early Sunday morning.

Vietnam’s meteorological department predicted heavy rain in northern and central provinces and warned of floods in low-lying areas, flash floods in streams and landslides on steep slopes.

Municipal workers along with army and police forces were busy in the capital, Hanoi, clearing uprooted trees, fallen billboards, toppled electricity poles and rooftops that were swept away, while assessing damaged buildings.

Yagi was still a storm when it blew out of the northwestern Philippines into the South China Sea on Wednesday, leaving at least 20 people dead and 26 others missing mostly in landslides and widespread flooding in the acrchipelago nation. It then made its way to China, killing three people and injuring nearly a hundred others, before landing in Vietnam.

Storms like Typhoon Yagi were “getting stronger due to climate change, primarily because warmer ocean waters provide more energy to fuel the storms, leading to increased wind speeds and heavier rainfall,” said Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore.