Link to With winds topping 103 mph, Typhoon Kajiki has forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands and brought Vietnam’s infrastructure to a halt, in one of the region’s most powerful storms in recent years.With winds topping 103 mph, Typhoon Kajiki has forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands and brought Vietnam’s infrastructure to a halt, in one of the region’s most powerful storms in recent years.
Typhoon Kajiki made landfall on Vietnam’s north central coast Monday, unleashing destructive winds, torrential rain, and widespread flooding that forced mass evacuations, closed airports, and knocked out power across several provinces.
With wind speeds reaching 103 mph (166 km/h), Kajiki tore through provinces including Thanh Hoa, Quang Tri, Nghe An, and Danang, uprooting trees, tearing roofs from buildings, and flooding low-lying neighborhoods. The Vietnamese government declared a nationwide emergency response, with over 600,000 residents evacuated and 152,000 homes braced for impact.
“This is an extremely dangerous, fast-moving storm,” a government spokesperson said Sunday evening, warning that further casualties could occur if evacuation orders were ignored.
Tragically, one fatality has already been confirmed: a man in Nghe An province died after being electrocuted while trying to secure his roof on Friday.
In response to the crisis, Vietnam has mobilized 16,500 soldiers and over 107,000 paramilitary personnel for rescue and relief operations. Boats were grounded across affected provinces, and dozens of Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet flights were canceled. Airports in Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh were shut down as wind speeds escalated dangerously.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and fear. In Cua Lo, a coastal tourist town now partially submerged, local resident Dang Xuan Phuong, 48, told Reuters:
“When I look down from the higher floors, I could see waves as tall as two metres, and the water has flooded the roads around us. It was terrifying.”
The damage mirrors the storm’s earlier path through southern China, where 20,000 people were evacuated from Hainan Island and parts of Guangdong province. Though Chinese officials have since downgraded emergency alerts, reports from Sanya describe shattered windows, fallen trees, and extensive coastal damage.
Kajiki is expected to continue inland, moving across Laos and into northern Thailand over the next 48 hours. But its landfall in Vietnam—already one of the most typhoon-prone countries in Southeast Asia—has reignited urgent concern over climate vulnerability.
Last year, researchers warned that cyclones are forming closer to land, strengthening faster, and lasting longer due to climate change. One of the authors, Prof. Benjamin P. Horton of City University Hong Kong, commented grimly:
"It's frightening to see our projections from just last year already materialising. We are no longer predicting the future — we are living it."
Kajiki is now being compared to Typhoon Yagi, which killed 300 and caused over £2.4 billion in damages in 2024. With flooding ongoing and infrastructure still under strain, officials warn that the full scale of Kajiki’s destruction may not be known for days.
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