Rescuers searched for scores of missing people after a typhoon swept southern Vietnam with strong winds and rain, killing at least 59 and damaging or destroying thousands of homes, officials said yesterday.
Flood control authorities told south-central provinces that rivers were rising and they should prepare for flooding in the aftermath of Typhoon Durian, which struck the coast on Monday night and Tuesday with 120kph winds.
"Localities should expand their efforts to continue to rescue and find missing people," said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, coordinator of storm preparation and relief on state-run television.
PHOTO: AP
Hung said they should work to "restore normal life, especially rebuild houses and mobilize military police and the youth union to help."
The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression and was heading west across the Gulf of Thailand yesterday.
Vietnam's national flood and storm control center said yesterday that Typhoon Durian killed at least 59 people in the four south-central provinces of Binh Thuan, Ba Ria Vung Tau, Ben Tre and Vinh Long.
Across the region, most people were killed by collapsed houses, flying tin roofs or collapsed trees.
The government evacuated thousands of people before the storm hit.
Some of those who lost their lives had refused to follow the evacuation order.
It said 29 people were still missing yesterday and that 433 were injured.
The government sent out a fleet of Air Force planes to search for missing people. The government also said some injured were not out of danger yet.
``The death toll could rise,'' said Pham Nhat Quang, a spokesman at the provincial military command. ``Many of the victims are in very bad condition.''
There was no immediate estimate of the cost of the damage from the storm, the ninth of the year in Vietnam, but it damaged or destroyed 120,899 houses and sank 696 fishing vessels, the government report said.
Durian, named after a strong-smelling spiky Asian fruit, slammed into the Philippines one notch below a category five super typhoon last Thursday.
Disaster officials yesterday raised the death toll to 543 and 740 missing.
Philippine officials decided to extend rescue efforts by 10 days in the villages devastated by mudslides at the foot of Mayon volcano when typhoon Durian hit.
Nearly 250,000 houses were damaged while agriculture and infrastructure damage was estimated at US$12.25 million.
In both the Philippines and Vietnam hundreds or even thousands of people are killed every year in tropical storms and typhoons that easily tear apart flimsy dwellings and fishing vessels, and cause widespread damage through floods and mudslides.
In May, hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen were lost in a typhoon named Chanchu.
In October, another typhoon, Xangsane, killed at least 70 and destroyed or submerged hundreds of thousands of homes when it struck the central coastal city of Danang, despite early warnings and preparations.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese