Hanoi flooded by swollen river as Typhoon Yagi leaves 179 dead

HANOI — Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi evacuated thousands of people living near the swollen Red River as its waters rose to a 20-year high, flooding streets days after Typhoon Yagi battered the country’s north, killing at least 179 people.

Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year, Yagi brought gales and heavy rain as it moved westwards after landfall on Saturday, causing the collapse of a bridge this week while it scythed through provinces along the Red River, the area’s biggest.

“My home is now part of the river,” said Nguyen Van Hung, 56, who lives in a neighborhood on the banks of the Red River.

Across the country, the typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods have killed 179 people while 145 were missing, the government estimated.

Vietnam’s state-run power utility EVN said on Wednesday it had cut off power from some flooded parts of the capital due to safety concerns.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said in a statement that the Red River was at its highest in two decades and that more rain was expected over the next two days.

Some schools in Hanoi have told students to stay home for the rest of the week, while thousands of residents of low-lying areas have been evacuated, the government and state media said.

Nearer the city center, charity Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation evacuated its office on Tuesday, after authorities warned of flood risks.

“People were moving frantically, moving their motorbikes, relocating items,” said spokesperson Carlota Torres Lliro, expressing concern for dozens of children and families living in makeshift houses by the river.

EVN said on Wednesday it had stopped discharging water from Hoa Binh hydropower dam, the second largest in northern Vietnam, into Red River tributary, the Da River, to reduce water flows.

Vietnamese authorities also raised concerns on Wednesday about Chinese hydropower plants releasing water into another Red River tributary, the Lo River, known in China as Panlongjiang, with Beijing saying the two countries were cooperating on flood prevention.

Yagi wreaked havoc on many factories and flooded warehouses in coastal export-oriented industrial hubs east of Hanoi, forcing closures, with some only expected to resume full operations after weeks, executives said.