(Bloomberg) — Super Typhoon Yagi’s trail of devastation across northern Vietnam and southern China included a toll of more than 60 dead or missing, as well as a major impact on agriculture and some damage to energy infrastructure.
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Yagi was the strongest autumn typhoon to strike China since 1949, according to a Xinhua News Agency report citing the China Meteorological Administration. It’s the 11th of the season so far.
In northern Vietnam, 59 people were dead or missing after the typhoon caused landslides and flooding, according to a government report. At least four people died in China’s southern province of Hainan, CCTV reported. Nearly a million residents had been evacuated on the island and the nearby province of Guangdong as the typhoon approached.
Yagi made landfall in China twice on Friday, first hitting Hainan and then Guangdong. The system was equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane when it struck Hainan, which is considered a major storm capable of inflicting catastrophic damage. Yagi was downgraded on Sunday to a tropical depression, but the National Meteorological Center said heavy rains still threaten parts of Guangxi and Yunnan, Xinhua reported.
The typhoon had caused 11.9 billion yuan ($1.67 billion) of damage to Hainan’s agriculture as of midday Sunday, with more than half of that in the fishing sector, the provincial government said in a statement. About 93,000 hectares were affected, and around a third of the area is now unlikely to be harvested, it said, without specifying the type of crop.
Flood Damage
In northern Vietnam, flooding destroyed over 120,000 hectares of rice and other crops, the VnExpress news website reported, and heavy rains remain a risk. Some 5,000 fruit trees in the provinces of Thai Binh, Hung Yen and the port city of Haiphong were also destroyed, it said. About 17,000 trees in Hanoi alone were uprooted or damaged.
Vegetable prices surged by as much as 30% in Hanoi and other places in northern Vietnam after Yagi devastated farms and disrupted transport, VnExpress said.
A number of boats sank in the provinces of Quang Ninh, Thai Binh and Hai Duong, as well as the port city of Haiphong, according to the government. Some provinces and cities experienced power losses and widespread communication outages. Northern Power Corp. said more than 5.7 million customers were affected by the storm, although power supplies have since been restored to 4.2 million of them.
In Thai Binh alone, initial damage was estimated at about 2 trillion dong ($81 million), according to the Lao Dong news website.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. said on WeChat that its refineries in Hainan had been damaged by the typhoon, although it didn’t mention any impact on production.
Yagi also broke a handful of wind turbines on the island in Wenchang, where the typhoon made landfall. The equipment was supplied by Windey Energy Technology Group Co. as part of a project being developed by Huaneng Power International Inc, according to local news outlet Jiemian. A spokesperson for Windey said the turbines met national standards, but wind speeds exceeded the maximum they were designed for.
Hainan’s vacation hot spot of Sanya has reopened its tourist venues, Xinhua said, citing local authorities.
–With assistance from Ben Sharples, Sarah Chen, Winnie Zhu and Megan Durisin.
(Updates with new information throughout including fatalities. An earlier version of the story corrected the death toll in the first paragraph)
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