Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has evacuated thousands of people living near the Red River, which burst its banks as its waters reached their highest level in 20 years, flooding streets days after Typhoon Yagi hit the north of the country, killing at least 179 people.
Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year, Yagi brought gales and heavy rains as it moved west after making landfall on Saturday, causing a bridge to collapse this week as it tore through provinces along the Red River, the region’s largest.
“My house is now part of the river,” said Nguyen Van Hung, 56, who lives in a neighborhood on the banks of the Red River.
Across the country, the typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods have killed 179 people and 145 are missing, according to government estimates.
Vietnam’s state-owned electricity company EVN said on Wednesday (11) it had cut power to some flooded parts of the capital due to safety concerns.
Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Hydrometeorological Forecasting Center, said in a statement that the Red River was at its highest level in two decades and that more rain was expected in the next two days.
Some schools in Hanoi have asked students to stay home for the rest of the week, while thousands of residents in low-lying areas have been evacuated, the government and state media said.
Closer to the city centre, the charity Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation emptied its office on Tuesday (10) after authorities warned of flood risks.
“People were moving frantically, grabbing their motorbikes, relocating items,” said spokeswoman Carlota Torres Lliro, expressing concern for dozens of children and families living in makeshift homes along the riverbank.
Vietnamese authorities also raised concerns on Wednesday (11) about Chinese hydropower plants releasing water into another tributary of the Red River, the Lo River, known in China as the Panlongjiang, with Beijing saying the two countries were cooperating on flood prevention.
Yagi damaged many factories and flooded warehouses in export-oriented coastal industrial hubs east of Hanoi, forcing factories to close, with some expected to resume full operations for weeks, executives said.
The disruptions threaten global supply chains, as Vietnam is home to large operations of multinationals that ship products mainly to the United States, Europe and other developed countries.
This content was originally published in Vietnam’s capital is flooded by river and the death toll from Typhoon Yagi reaches 179 on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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