Typhoon Kajiki batters Vietnam, leaving at least 3 dead
Evacuations, flooding and power outages — Typhoon Kajiki hit central and northern Vietnam with full force, leaving behind extensive damage and chaos in the capital, Hanoi. Authorities have reported at least three dead.
Kajiki slams into Vietnam
Typhoon Kajiki has hit the coastal regions of Vietnam with full force. Heavy rainfall and wind gusts of up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour have damaged thousands of homes, causing flooding and power outages. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, and authorities are reporting the first fatalities and injuries.
Coastal region on high alert
This fisherman in the Vietnamese province of Ha Tinh tied off his boat amid the heavy rain, in a bid to protect it from damage caused by the severe storm. Up to 300,000 people in coastal regions were urged to take safety measures and leave endangered areas. Shipping traffic was completely suspended in some ports.
Severe damage
Typhoon Kajiki has left behind enormous damage in central and northern Vietnam. Some 6,000 houses were severely damaged, around 18,000 trees were uprooted and hundreds of power poles were knocked down. More than 1.3 million households were affected by power outages, and in the country's mountainous regions 27 villages were completely cut off from the outside world.
Tens of thousands evacuated
Authorities took emergency measures early on, evacuating around 44,000 people before the typhoon arrived and directing them to safe emergency shelters. In the northern coastal city of Vinh, these residents took refuge in a gymnasium.
Traffic chaos in Hanoi
In parts of the capital, Hanoi, traffic came to a near standstill due to the enormous amounts of water. Some people were stuck in their vehicles for hours in the floodwaters. "The flooding and the traffic this morning are terrible. It's a big mess everywhere," Hanoi resident Tran Luu Phuc told the AFP news agency.
Huge cleanup effort
Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilian aid workers are standing by for the upcoming rescue and cleanup effort. Kajiki has now weakened to a tropical storm, but authorities in Vietnam are still urging caution and warning of flash floods and landslides.
'This typhoon was absolutely terrifying'
"A huge steel roof was blown down from the eighth floor of a building, landing right in the middle of the street," Tran Van Hung, 65, told AFP in Vinh. "It was so lucky that no one was hurt. This typhoon was absolutely terrifying." Seasonal tropical storms are not uncommon in Vietnam, but climate change is making weather conditions more intense and difficult to predict.
Kajiki moves on to Thailand
More than 100 people have already been killed or reported missing in Vietnam as a result of natural disasters this year. Authorities had previously compared Typhoon Kajiki to the devastating Typhoon Yagi, which killed around 300 people in Vietnam in September 2024. Kajiki is continuing to move toward Thailand, where heavy rainfall and flooding are expected.