HANOI/HAIPHONG/BEIJING: Super Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s most powerful storm this year, made landfall in northern Vietnam on Saturday, the meteorological agency said, after tearing through China’s southern island of Hainan where it reportedly killed two people and injured dozens.

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 center, 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.

AIRPORTS CLOSED

Vietnam evacuated nearly 50,000 people from coastal towns and deployed 450,000 military personnel, the government said.

It also suspended operations for several hours at four airports on Saturday, including Hanoi’s Noi Bai, the busiest in the north, canceling more than 300 flights.

High schools were also closed in 12 northern provinces, including in the capital Hanoi.

Typhoons are becoming stronger, fueled by warmer oceans, amid climate change, scientists say. Last week, Typhoon Shanshan slammed into southwestern Japan, the strongest storm to hit the country in decades.

Yagi is named after the Japanese word for goat and the constellation of Capricornus.