HÀ NỘI – Typhoon Dianmu has so far cost the lives of at least seven people and left another two missing after sweeping through northern Việt Nam over the weekend.

Eight people were also injured due to falling trees, collapsed houses and landslides as the raging typhoon made landfall on Friday, reported the Office of the Central Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention (OCSCDP) as of 7am yesterday.

Yên Bái Province was hit the hardest with two deaths and one injured. Other provinces of Sơn La, Lào Cai, Hòa Bình, Bắc Giang and Nghệ An each had one fatality.

Floods in Bắc Giang and Lào Cai provinces washed away two people who have yet to be found.

The capital Hà Nội, which witnessed several big trees uprooted in the typhoon, had three injuries reported. So did the neighbouring Vĩnh Phúc Province while the typhoon sent one member of the public to hospital in Phú Thọ Province.

The OCSCDP reported 44 houses destroyed and washed away in the flooding across 13 localities hit by typhoon Dianmu, which also ripped the roofs from more than 650 houses and left others, over 1,510, under water. At least 2,154 families were forced to undergo emergency evacuation prior to the typhoon.

Nearly 2,000 cattle and poultry were killed, while over 10,000 ha of paddy fields and vegetables were flooded. Hà Nội accounted for one third of the destroyed farm land with about 3,064ha flooded, followed by Vĩnh Phúc Province with 2,698ha.

Some 252 trees were uprooted and strewn across streets, and in some cases damaged adjacent buildings and vehicles parked under them. Fourteen bridges across the affected provinces were severely damaged. Thousands of roads, canals and dams were submerged and degraded. Blackouts occurred in a number of areas due to fallen power poles and damaged transmission lines.

The national flag-carrier Vietnam Airlines had to cancel 10 flights due to the typhoon while Vietjet Air called off 15. Dozens of flights to and from the northern region were also delayed for hours as Dianmu caused heavy winds and downpours across the area.

Agriculture Minister-Head of the Central Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention and Control Nguyễn Xuân Cường on Saturday morning chaired a meeting reviewing storm response and post-storm recovery.

On-site missions were deployed across the affected localities to assess and promptly address the consequences of the storm and post-storm flash floods. Local authorities had pumping machines running around the clock to pump water from paddy fields, while residents were repairing damaged houses, roads and cleaning up their living environment.

Typhoon Dianmu was the third of its kind to batter Việt Nam this year. The first two typhoons, Mirinae and Nida, killed 20 people and injured another 82. They caused damages of more than VNĐ6.7 trillion (US$297.7 million), according to the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development. – VNS