HÀ NỘI — Typhoon Mirinae, the first to hit Việt Nam this year, has caused human and property damage in the north of the country after it rolled into the mainland from the midnight of Wednesday.

Trees reportedly fell on cars on Hai Bà Trưng, Bà Triệu, Trần Thánh Tông and Núi Trúc streets.

Many motorbikes skidded due to strong winds. Police officers have been asked to instruct people to walk with their motorbikes, instead of riding them, on Thăng Long, Nhật Tân and Vĩnh Tuy bridges.

Ten areas in the city have reportedly been flooded.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting yesterday morning issued flood warning of 0.2m to 0.4m in the inner city streets such as Phan Bội Châu - Lý Thường Kiệt, Giải Phóng, Phạm Văn Đồng and Phan Văn Trường, besides Trường Chinh, Giáp Bát, Minh Khai and Thái Hà, as well as Nguyễn Trãi, Hoàng Mai and Định Công.

The centre also said residents should not go out of their homes. Many schools have cancelled classes to ensure the safety of students. 

The strong winds caused the wall of a house to collapse in Hà Nội’s Phú Xuyên District, killing one person and injuring five, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Many flight departures from Hà Nội have been delayed or cancelled due to bad weather.

The city’s People’s Committee has ordered district-level authorities, police and relevant agencies to ensure power supply and to conduct water drainage, while preparing for any unexpected situation that might be caused by the storm.

The eye of the storm last night hit the northern and north-central provinces extending from Thái Bình to Thanh Hóa, bringing heavy rain of 120mm to more than 200mm.

Directly hit by the storm, Hải Phòng City has prepared well and so far has not recorded any major losses.

As of 7am yesterday, less rain and winds were reported. The city has dispatched more than 7,000 people and dozens of vehicles and has prepared 14,000 tonnes of food to deal with the storm’s aftermath.

In Thái Bình Province, electricity poles collapsed due to heavy rain and strong winds, causing blackouts in the districts of Tiền Hải and Thái Thụy.

Torrential rains inundated 39,300ha of rice and destroyed 1,900ha of other crop in the province.

According to the standing office of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in Ninh Bình Province, no loss of human life has been reported in the province, but there has been heavy damage to property.

The whole province had suffered from power cuts since Wednesday’s night. Till 10am yesterday, power had been restored only in Ninh Bình City. Roofs of thousands of houses have been blown away, while more than 34,000ha of newly planted rice have been flooded.

Seven boats sank while looking for shelters in Nam Định Province. One waterway police officer was injured while being on duty. About 74,100ha of rice in the province was flooded.—VNA/VNS Photo

Seven boats sank while looking for shelters in Nam Định Province. One waterway police officer was injured while being on duty. About 74,100ha of rice in the province was flooded.

Hundreds of trees fell down in Hưng Yên Province, where widespread power outages last for 12 hours from 10 pm of Wednesday. Around 800ha of rice in Tiên Lữ District were deep under water, and nearly 800ha of longan trees in Hưng Yên city were damaged. Strong winds also blew away roofs and advertising banners there.
In Hà Nam province, by 9 am yesterday, the tropical storm flooded almost 28,500ha of rice and 3,000ha of other crops, knocked down over 9,100 trees and unroofed some 1,000 houses, the local disaster prevention agency said.
Three residents in Thái Nguyên Province and another one in Hòa Bình Province were injured during the storm, which triggered blackouts in Hòa Bình and Hải Dương provinces. It also wreaked havoc on crops, livestock and houses in these localities.

Some 160 houses were unroofed in Lào Cai Province, with some kindergartens collapsing due to falling trees. In Bắc Giang Province, serious landslides containing some 200cu.m of soil occurred, and more than 1,400ha of crops were flooded.

In Yên Bái Province, a 14-year-old child drowned in floods and 17 houses were unroofed.

As of 10am yesterday, the tropical storm had weakened into a tropical depression, bringing continuous and heavy rain in the affected areas.

The storm is forecasted to move west-northwest at about 10km per hour to 15km per hour and will become weaker as it approaches the mainland.

Thanh Hóa Province and other northern provinces have been warned about continuous heavy rain, flash floods, landslides and floods. — VNS