Five killed, two missing in Vietnam typhoon floods
HANOI: Typhoon winds and rains that lashed central Vietnam killed five people and left two more missing, according to an official toll, with huge tracts of farmland flooded by the deluge.
Typhoon Wutip made landfall in southern China on Saturday with winds gusting up to 128 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour) and was downgraded to a tropical storm after swooping up the Gulf of Tonkin on Vietnam's flank.
Vietnam's agriculture ministry said on Saturday evening that three people had been killed in central Quang Tri province, with two more fatalities and two people missing in Quang Binh province.
More than 70,000 hectares (172,000 acres) of cropland were flooded, the ministry said.
Chinese authorities on the southern island of Hainan evacuated thousands of people, closed schools and halted rail services on Friday ahead of the storm's landfall.
However, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast on Saturday that the storm would 'weaken to dissipation' by the end of the weekend.
Natural disasters are becoming more severe and more frequent as a result of climate change. They claimed 514 lives in Vietnam last year, three times more than in 2023, according to the agriculture ministry.
In September, northern Vietnam was devastated by Typhoon Yagi, which killed 345 people and caused an estimated economic loss of $3.3 billion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Arab News
Heavy rains, lightning strikes kill at least six people in Pakistan's northwest
ISLAMABAD: Heavy rains and lightning strikes killed at least six people and injured five others in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province this week, the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Sunday. A total of seven houses were damaged due to rains, strong winds and flash floods that have lashed the province since June 20, according to a PDMA report. The accidents occurred in Mansehra, Buner, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Malakand and Kohistan districts of the province. 'The deceased include three men, one woman and two children, while the injured include three men and two women,' it said. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) this week forecast pre-monsoon rains in Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab and KP from June 20 till June 23. 'The PDMA has already issued a letter to the district administrations to remain alert and take preventive measures,' it added. Last month, rains and thunderstorms killed at least 26 people in KP and Punjab provinces, authorities said. Pakistan has seen erratic changes in its weather patterns which have led to frequent heat waves, untimely rains, storms, cyclones and droughts in recent years. Scientists have blamed the events on human-driven climate change. In 2022, devastating floods, blamed on human-driven climate change, killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected another 33 million and caused the country over $30 billion in economic losses.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Morocco says 2024 ‘hottest year' on record
RABAT: The year 2024 was Morocco's hottest on record, the North African country's meteorological agency said on Friday, mirroring the record surface temperatures measured globally. In an annual report, the agency said it recorded an average temperature anomaly of +1.49 degrees Celsius (+2.7 Fahrenheit) last year compared to the 1991-2020 period. 'The year 2024 stands out as the hottest ever recorded in Morocco,' it said, adding that every month in 2024, excluding June and September, had been hotter than the average for the 1991-2020 reference period. Several cities broke daily heat records, with 47.6 degrees Celsius (117.7 Fahrenheit) in Marrakech and 47.7 degrees Celsius (117.8 Fahrenheit) in Beni Mellal in July last year, the agency said. It also noted 'an increase in thermal anomalies, particularly during the autumn and winter seasons.' Morocco's all-time heat record was set in August 2023, when temperatures hit 50.4 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in Agadir. The country, which is enduring a seventh straight year of drought, registered an average rainfall deficit of -24.7 percent last year, the report said. The agency said last year's data reflected 'an amplification of climate contrasts in Morocco, where prolonged droughts alternate with episodes of extreme precipitation.' Torrential rains in September 2024 — causing floods and killing 18 people — 'did not reverse the overall rainfall deficit,' it added. Moroccan climatologist Mohammed-Said Karrouk, who also heads Morocco's National Future Planet Committee, warned that the kingdom's geography and climate make it more vulnerable to temperature extremes. He said warming was now observed in all seasons. 'In autumn, lingering summer heat combined with gradually cooling temperatures favors violent downpours, which have become more dangerous due to excess humidity in the atmosphere,' he said. 'In winter, the heat originating mostly from warming tropical oceans now influences North Africa as well.' A former member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Karrouk also warned of a recent intensification of the West African monsoon — a seasonal wind system that brings moist air from the Atlantic Ocean — which he linked to the deadly September floods. He called for the construction of shelters to protect vulnerable populations and dams to capture water — a valuable resource with Morocco's unrelenting drought. Weather extremes have taken a toll on farming, a vital sector for Morocco which employs nearly a third of its active population and accounts for 12 percent of GDP. Scientists say that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming and that they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense. Fuelled by human-driven climate change, 2024 was the warmest year on record globally — and 2025 is projected to rank among the top three.
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Two dead in Mexico as Hurricane Erick moves on from Mexican coast
Hurricane Erick killed at least two people as it swept through southern Mexico, causing significant damage to coastal communities before weakening to a low-pressure system Thursday night, authorities said. A man was electrocuted while helping with debris removal in the southern Oaxaca state, where Erick made landfall, after handling high-voltage cables near a stream, the state government said. A child died in neighboring Guerrero state after being swept away by a swollen stream as his mother tried to carry him across in the town of San Marcos, civil protection authorities reported. The US National Hurricane Center's latest advisory at 3:00 a.m. GMT said Erick had weakened overnight to a tropical storm located 95 miles (155 kilometers) from Acapulco port, with sustained winds of 30 mph (50 km/h) as it moved across southern Mexico on Thursday. Coastal communities in Oaxaca, including Lagunas de Chacahua – home to around 2,800 people – were directly hit by the storm, which destroyed thatched roofs and flooded streets. 'It was very strong, very ugly… the entire town is homeless, without clothes, we have no help,' Francisca Avila, a 45-year-old housewife, told AFP, as she surveyed the loss of most of her belongings. In the tourist town of Puerto Escondido, residents and emergency personnel worked to drain flooded streets and clear debris left behind as the storm knocked over trees and street signs and buried boats under sand on the beach. Much of the town of about 30,000 people was left without electricity or cellphone coverage. The water 'had never hit with this magnitude' in Puerto Escondido, 44-year-old merchant Luis Alberto Gil, whose shop was among those flooded, told AFP. President Claudia Sheinbaum announced during her morning briefing that heavy rains are still expected in the southern states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas, as well as Veracruz and Puebla. She thanked the population for following the authorities' recommendations 'very responsibly,' in a message shared on her social media. The president reported 15 road sections closed in the state of Oaxaca, as well as more than 123,000 users affected by power outages. Mexico sees major storms every year, usually between May and November, on both its Pacific and Caribbean coasts. In October 2023, Acapulco, a major port and beach resort in Guerrero, was pummeled by Hurricane Otis, a powerful Category 5 storm that killed dozens of people. Hurricane John, another Category 3 storm that hit in September last year, caused about 15 deaths. Sheinbaum had urged people to avoid going out and advised those living in low-lying areas or near rivers to move to shelters – some 2,000 of which had been set up in Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca in anticipation. 'Since (Erick) just made landfall, we are in contact with the Defense (department) and the Navy, who are in the area, and we will be able to inform in a few hours what the effects are on these populations,' she said at her daily press conference Thursday morning. Restaurants remained shuttered in Puerto Escondido even though some tourists insisted on staying and riding out the storm. Around 250 miles (400 kilometers) north along the Pacific coast, Acapulco – a major port and resort city famous for its nightlife – was largely deserted Thursday as residents heeded calls to hunker down, with shops boarded up and tourist boats grounded. Many had stocked up the day before on food, water and gasoline.
