by Mick the Ram

At least 127 people are known to have died and a further 54 others are reported missing in northern Vietnam, in the wake of super typhoon Yagi.

One of the worst incidents occurred when the busy Phong Chau bridge in Phu Tho provincecollapsed, plunging at least ten vehicles and two scooters into the Red River below, with several rescued but eight people remain unaccounted for.

Part of the 375-metre (1230 feet) structure is still standing, and the military has been instructed to build a pontoon bridge as soon as possible.

The death toll has continued to rise daily since Asia’s most powerful storm in 30 years hit at the weekend, bringing with it winds of up to 203 km/h (126 mph).

Over 1.5 million people are without power and thousands can be seen stranded on rooftops in some of the northern provinces, while others have been posting desperate pleas for help on social media.

Many missing

As well as the shocking incident at the Phong Chau bridge, a landslide in the mountainous Cao Bang province saw a passenger bus carrying 20 people swept into a flooded stream, with their well-being unknown at present.

Yagi also sunk and swept adrift dozens of fishing boats, with searches able to rescue 27 people, but dozen more reported missing.

People on rooftops desperate for help

Although it has now weakened into a tropical depression, authorities have warned that Yagi will create more disruption as it starts to move westwards. Flood and landslide warnings have been issued for over 400 communes across 18 northern provinces.

One-storey homes in parts of Thai Nguyen and Yen Bai provinces have been almost completely submerged with residents desperately waiting on the highest possible roofs for help.

The death toll will inevitable grow significantly higher, as on top of those who have already sadly lost their lives or are missing, at least 752 people are known to be injured, many seriously.

Capital under threat

The capital Hanoi is now expected to flood in the typhoon’s aftermath, as are the industrial hubs of Bac Giang and Thai Nguyen, which are home to factories that export goods for multinationals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple.  

Using public loudspeakers commonly used to broadcast Communist propaganda in the past, officials have been warning residents of the capital’s riverside Long Bien district to be on alert for an immediate evacuation of the area.

Millions of dollars worth of damage already

At Ha Long Bay, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated some 70km along the coast from the city, it has been reported that as many as 30 vessels sank after being pounded by strong wind and waves.

Authorities have also announced that 3,300 houses have been damaged, as have more than 120,000 hectares of crops.

The estimated cost of the damage is already being put at over 300 billion dong ($12.1 million) and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has approved an initial package of $4.62 million in aid.

Calling card left at neighbours

Before arriving in Vietnam, Yagi tore through the neighbouring Philippines and China, killing at least 24 people and injuring many more.

Typhoons in the region have been tending to form much closer to the coast, and as a rule they have been intensifying more rapidly and remaining over land for longer periods, and the obvious connection has to be climate change.  

Same as a hurricane

Hurricanes and typhoons are actually the same weather phenomenon, which is in fact tropical cyclones. This is very much a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters.

Once it reaches a maximum sustained wind speed of 119 km/h (74 mph) or higher, then it receives the classification of a hurricane or typhoon, depending upon where the storm originates in the world.