Bangkok (EFE).- At least 11 people have died and 13 are missing in Vietnam as a result of Typhoon Bualoi, which made landfall early Monday morning after authorities ordered the evacuation of nearly 250,000 people.
Another 33 people were also injured and dozens of homes and buildings damaged due to the natural disaster, the Hanoi government reported on its website.
Most of the fatalities occurred in the northern province of Ninh Binh, where the typhoon caused a tornado that destroyed a dozen homes and left nine dead, official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
The other victims were two people who were swept away by rising waters.
Among the missing are three fishermen who fell into the water when a boat capsized in Quang Tri province and a resident of Da Nang, according to the provisional toll.
Bualoi, which left at least 14 dead as it passed through the Philippines, reached Vietnamese territory around 5 am with winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), the Vietnam National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) said in a statement.
The meteorological department has forecast rains until Tuesday, even though the typhoon, which is already in Laos, has weakened to a tropical depression.
On Monday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ordered the mobilization of military personnel to focus on responding to the floods and flash floods reported in several provinces in north-central Vietnam.
Nearly half a million residents of Ha Tinh province, about 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Hanoi, remain without power, according to VNA.
Before the storm’s arrival, Vietnamese authorities rushed to issue evacuation orders for nearly 250,000 people on Sunday, mostly in Da Nang city.
Typhoon Bualoi struck the east coast of the Philippines on Friday, causing at least 14 deaths and prompting the evacuation of more than 350,000 people, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), before crossing and heading toward Vietnam.
Typhoons are a recurring phenomena in Southeast Asia, when the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean cause the formation of cyclones.
Typhoon Kajiki caused seven deaths and 34 injured at the end of August in Vietnam, where the authorities evacuated half a million residents.
The Southeast Asian country was hit hard in September last year by Typhoon Yagi, which left more than 300 dead due to rain and landslides and was the most powerful typhoon Vietnam has experienced in the last three decades. EFE
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