Vietnam's Top Bualoi, 8 People Died, Dozens Others Missing
JAKARTA - Typhoon Bualoi hit the coast of Vietnam on Monday, killing eight people and causing 17 more to disappear. Typhoons caused strong winds and rain that damaged houses, cut off electricity, and flooded roads before the storm weakened as it moved towards Laos.
Bualoi moved along the country's north-middle coastline before crashing on Monday, September 29 morning, causing waves as high as eight meters, according to the national meteorological agency.
Seventeen fishermen disappeared after a big wave hit two fishing boats off the coast of Quang Tri Province, while another fishing boat lost contact during the storm.
"I was awake all night for fear the door would be lifted by strong winds," said Ho Van Quynh of Nghe Province An.
Neighbors admitted that they spent the night trying to protect their house because the electricity in their apartment building was out.
"I've seen a lot of storms, and this is one of the strongest," said Nguyen Tuan Vinh.
Strong winds killed eight people and injured seven others in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam News reported.
One person died after being trapped in a flood in the city of Hue, and another person was killed by a fallen tree in Thanh Hoa province, the disaster management agency said.
At 11.00 local time, the typhoon moved across Nghe An Province towards Laos, with the maximum wind speed weakening to 74 km/hour (46 mph) from 117 km/hour when it hit land.
Bualoi has so far damaged 245 houses, inundated nearly 1,400 hectares of rice and other plants, and cut off access to several areas, the disaster management agency said in a report.
There was no major damage to industrial properties mentioned in the report, although there are several large factories inside or near the Bualoi typhoon line, including those owned by Foxconn, Luxshare, Formosa Plastics, and Vinfast.
Before the typhoon hit, the government had evacuated more than 28,500 people, while hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed as four airports in the provinces were closed.