Doksuri leaves trail of destruction in Vietnam
Ha Tinh: Shaken residents in central Vietnam are piecing their homes and businesses back together after a powerful typhoon hammered large swathes of coast and killed at least four people.
Typhoon Doksuri tore through Vietnam on Friday afternoon, reducing structures to piles of debris and knocking out electricity and telecommunications in several provinces, in one of the worst storms to hit the country in years.
Residents woke up yesterday to the widespread destruction in normally idyllic coastal communities popular among beachgoers.
“I sat inside my house covering my ears, I didn’t dare leave as I was so scared,” Mai Thi Tinh, whose restaurant in Ha Tinh province was completely destroyed, said.
“The power is still off so we can’t do anything. I don’t know how long it will take to recover.”
At least four people were killed and eight injured, according to Vietnam’s Disaster Management Authority.
Some 123,000 homes were dam- aged and trees and power lines were torn down in five hard-hit provinces, the disaster agency said.
“The wind was so bad that I hid under the bed. I’m old but I’m afraid of death,” 70-year-old retired teacher Tran Ngoc Khang said in Ha Tinh.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited the hard-hit province yesterday to survey the damage.
“We have to quickly mobilise forces to repair houses and damaged schools.
“We have to ensure people can get back to normal life,” he said on staterun Vietnam Television.
Nearly 80,000 people were evacuated as the storm bore down while the government deployed a quarter of a million troops and a fleet of vehicles and ships.
It has already been hit by severe weather this year, with 140 people dead or missing in natural disasters since January.
Forecasters warned of a risk of flooding and landslides as the storm swept through central and northern Vietnam, bringing with it heavy rains.