Hanoi, July 22 (IANS) Typhoon Wipha made landfall in northern Vietnam on Tuesday morning, bringing torrential rains, power outages, and infrastructure damage, local media reported.
The typhoon struck coastal areas between Hung Yen and Ninh Binh provinces, sustaining maximum winds of 88 km per hour, equivalent to level 8-9 on the Beaufort scale, with gusts reaching level 11, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, Vietnam News Agency reports.
At around 8:30 a.m., a suspension bridge in Dien Bien province partially collapsed due to prolonged heavy rains, injuring four people, the Voice of Vietnam reported.
Power outages were reported in parts of Tien Hai commune in Hung Yen province.
Residents were seen bringing fuel containers to gas stations to purchase fuel for generators, Xinhua news agency reported quoting local media outlet VnExpress.
Meanwhile, central provinces such as Thanh Hoa and Nghe An recorded rainfall of 150 to 200 mm, raising the risk of landslides and flash floods, local authorities warned.
Earlier on July 21, one person had been confirmed dead and four others injured in central Vietnam’s Nghe An province due Typhoon Wipha, local newspaper Lao Dong (Labor) reported on Monday.
The effect of Typhoon Wipha, the third tropical storm to hit Vietnam so far this year, damaged 357 houses while inundating more than 400 hectares of rice fields and other crops across the province, the report added.
According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, Wipha was expected to strengthen by early Tuesday, affecting northern Vietnam’s coastal areas.
Local authorities are urging residents to stay alert as the storm continues to approach the mainland, the state-controlled media reported.
Typhoon Wipha was expected to affect northern and central parts of Laos, bringing light to moderate thunderstorms in most areas, along with heavy rain and strong winds in some central and southern parts, according to a report from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, under the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
–IANS
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