Super Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year, made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, the meteorological agency said. A generic view of Vietnam's Noi Bai International Airport after it closed due to the approaching Typhoon Yagi, in Hanoi, Vietnam, September 7, 2024.
Yagi, the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone in 2024, has already killed at least 16 people in the Philippines, having formed east of the archipelago earlier in the week.
As it hit island districts of north Vietnam around 1300 local time (0600 GMT) on Saturday, it generated winds of up to 160 kph (99 mph) near its centre, having lost power from its peak of 234 kph (145 mph) in Hainan a day earlier.
Vietnam's coastal city of Haiphong, an industrial hub with a population of 2 million that hosts factories from foreign multinationals and local carmaker VinFast , is so far among the hardest hit by the winds.
Parts of the city experienced power outages on Saturday, authorities said.
The wind smashed buildings' glass windows and broke tree branches, according to a Reuters witness. City streets were deserted as citizens heeded authorities' calls to stay indoors.
Earlier in Hainan, which has a population of more than 10 million, the storm knocked down trees, flooded roads and cut power to more than 800,000 homes.
Yagi is named after the Japanese word for goat and the constellation of Capricornus.
