The death toll of Typhoon Yagi has risen to 152 in Vietnam, according to government estimates, as one of the country’s largest rivers reaches its highest level in two decades, flooding the streets of Hanoi.
By Wednesday, flood waters from the swollen Red River reached a meter high in parts of the capital, forcing some residents to navigate their neighbourhoods by boat.
Thousands of people have evacuated from low-lying areas of the city, and 10 of Hanoi’s 30 administrative districts are on “flood alert,” state media reported.
Floods and landslides across northern Vietnam have been the main causes of death from the typhoon, the government said.
“This is the worst flood I have seen,” Hanoi resident Tran Le Quyen told Reuters news agency. “It was dry yesterday morning. Now the entire street is flooded. We couldn’t sleep last night.”
Yagi, which was initially classified as a super typhoon—the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane—but later downgraded to a tropical depression, has continued to wreak havoc in Vietnam since making landfall on Saturday.
It has been described as Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year.
“My home is now part of the river,” Nguyen Van Hung, who lives in a neighbourhood on the banks of the Red River, told Reuters.
A devastating flash flood wiped out an entire village in northern Lao Cai province on Tuesday, leaving at least 25 confirmed dead. Rescue efforts are underway, with hundreds of soldiers dispatched to search for those still unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, authorities are closely monitoring a hydropower plant in Yen Bai province, as a massive influx of water into the dam’s reservoir raises fears of a potential collapse.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, assured the public on Wednesday that the plant remains stable but advised nearby residents to remain indoors as water levels could take up to two days to return to a safer level.
The flash floods were triggered by Typhoon Yagi, which has wreaked havoc across northern Vietnam for the past four days. On Monday, the storm destroyed a major bridge, sending ten cars and two scooters plunging into the Red River.
The typhoon has also caused widespread damage to homes, factories, and infrastructure, tearing off roofs and uprooting trees.