HANOI (Reuters) – Typhoon Yagi weakened on Sunday, killing at least three people in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, flooding many areas, knocking down thousands of trees and damaging homes, the government said.
Authorities have warned of more heavy rain, flash floods and landslides in northern Vietnam, where a storm that has weakened from a super typhoon to a strong one has killed at least seven people and injured dozens since making landfall on Saturday afternoon.
Asia's most powerful storm this year has killed four people on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, according to the latest figures from local authorities. The Civil Defense Office of the Philippines, the first country to be hit by Yagi after it formed last week, raised the death toll on Sunday from 16 to 20 and said 22 people were missing.
Vietnam's meteorological agency said Yagi had weakened to a tropical depression by 4am on Sunday (2100 GMT Saturday), but warned of “a risk of flash flooding near small rivers and streams, as well as landslides on steep slopes in many places in the northern mountainous areas” and coastal Thanh Hoa province.
Calm returned to Hanoi, a city of 8.5 million people, on Sunday morning after strong winds and rain that battered the city overnight caused widespread damage, knocking down trees in the city centre and other areas.
Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport, the busiest in northern Vietnam, has reopened after being closed on Saturday morning, state media reported.
The government said Yagi had caused waves up to 4 metres (13 feet) high in coastal provinces, where rescue operations for those lost at sea were expected to begin on Sunday when conditions permitted. Coastal areas faced extended power outages.
According to emergency management authorities cited by the state-run Hainan Daily, preliminary estimates indicate significant economic losses and widespread power outages in Hainan.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Phuong Nguyen in Hanoi; additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing and Michael Flores in Manila)