Five people have been killed and 14 remain missing after storm Wipha crossed directly over Hanoi and across northern provinces.
After hugging the coast of China for a number of days as a tropical storm, the weather system eventually weakened into a tropical depression and made landfall in Vietnam last Friday with wind speeds of up to 75km/h.
Despite its weakened intensity, the storm still brought heavy rains which caused landslides and flooding in multiple provinces.
According to VnExpress, Thanh Hoa Province was hit hardest. Three people lost their lives there and 13 were reported missing at the end of the weekend. Two others were killed in Bac Kan and Dien Bien provinces, while 50 houses were severely damaged in multiple northern provinces. Local authorities are carrying out search and rescue operations for those missing.
The one and only Hanoi Weatherdude claims there may be more rain today, but less for the rest of the week. He added that the north is in peak rainy season now, with highs expected to be in the low 30s degrees.
Vietnam’s storm season has been quiet so far, although forecasters predict that, with conditions ripe now for storms to develop over the East Sea, multiple storms could hit the region over the coming months.
Last year, 181 people were killed by storms in Vietnam, while in 2017, 16 tropical storms hit Vietnam, leaving 389 people dead or missing and injuring 668 others. The hardest-hit areas were generally in northern and central regions.
