Typhoon Wutip Damage in Vietnam Rises to $438.7M

Vietnam suffered an estimated loss of VND9.03 trillion ($438.68 million) from Wutip as of Oct 3, which is the tenth storm to hit the country this year, rising from VND4.9 trillion earlier estimated. Among storm-hit areas, the central province of Quang Binh was the hardest hit with VND8.07 trillion, followed by Ha Tinh province with VND1.16 trillion. The typhoon caused nine deaths and 199 injuries. 389 houses collapsed, 7,833 were flooded. 198,801 households were unroofed and more than 17,000 hectares of paddy and subsidiary crops were flooded in the stormy weather. Thousands of hectares of rubber Quang Tri and Quang Binh provinces which are in the harvest period were also destroyed. Thousands of tourists in Hue and Quang Binh were also stuck. The most powerful one over the past six years brought devastating destruction to central Vietnam with torrential rains and flash floods. Currently, electricity was disrupted in many places in the six provinces of Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue. Two storms or tropical low-pressure systems would batter the East Sea this month, bringing heavy rains to the central region, flash floods forecast. (thesaigontimes.vn Oct 4, Vnexpress.net Oct 4)