One dead and 12 missing as Typhoon Bualoi makes landfall in Vietnam
Ahead of the typhoon hitting, hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed as four airports in central provinces were closed.
People work to rescue fishermen on a stranded fishing boat due to Typhoon Bualoi in Quang Tri, Vietnam on Sep 28, 2025. (Photo: AP/VNA/Trinh Quoc Dung)
HANOI: Typhoon Bualoi made landfall in northern central Vietnam in the early hours of Monday (Sep 29), damaging houses and knocking down power grids, with at least one person dead and 12 fishermen missing as the storm brought flooding rains and huge swells.
The typhoon was over Nghe An province as of 8am local time (9am Singapore time), with maximum wind speeds weakening to 88kmh from 117kmh when it made landfall hours earlier, according to the national weather forecast agency.
Before making landfall, Bualoi had moved along the country's coastline for several hours, causing waves as high as 8m, according to the national weather agency.
One person died after being caught in floodwater in Hue city, while 12 fishermen were missing after huge waves sank four fishing boats off Quang Tri province, state media reported.
Ahead of the typhoon hitting, the government evacuated almost 30,000 residents, while hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed as four airports in central provinces were closed.
More than 15,000 residents in Ha Tinh - known as a key steel production hub - were slated for evacuation to schools and medical centres converted into temporary shelters, authorities said earlier in the day.
The cyclone has triggered heavy rains across most of Vietnam since Saturday, and authorities have warned of the risk of severe floods and landslides.
Rainfall in several parts of the country was forecast to hit 500 millimetres from Sunday night through Tuesday, according to the weather agency.
With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to typhoons that are often formed east of the Philippines, where at least 10 people died after Bualoi hit last week.
In Vietnam, more than 100 people were killed or went missing from natural disasters in the first seven months of 2025, according to the agriculture ministry.
Vietnam suffered US$3.3 billion in economic losses last September as a result of Typhoon Yagi, which swept across the country's north and caused hundreds of fatalities.
