Tropical Storm Mirinae Kills One, Injures Five in Vietnam

Heavy rains triggered by typhoon Mirinae, the first to hit Vietnam this year, has caused one death, nine people injured, and damage worth VND100 billion ($4.5 million), leaving many parts in the country’s northern region in power outages. The storm continues to weaken across the region after rolling onshore Thursday [July 28] morning with winds over 100kph. Many parts in Ninh Binh province was submerged in a half of a meter of water, troubling traffic while seven fishing vessels in Thai Binh were sunk as waves crashed ashore. Power cuts have left the provinces of Ninh Binh and Nam Dinh paralyzed while others, such as Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Hung Yen, Hoa Binh, Haiphong, and Quang Ninh had partly electricity failure. Strong winds have collapsed 1,200 medium-voltage poles and 13,000 low voltage poles. The storm has felled big trees and brought traffic to a halt on many roads in the capital city of Hanoi. All casualties were caused by trees falling onto passing vehicles. Meanwhile, many flights from and to Hanoi were suspended. Vietnam averages 10 tropical storms or typhoons a year with the majority happens between July and October every year. (Vtv.vn Jul 29, Nld.com.vn July 28, VnExpress.net Jul 28)