Typhoon “Kujira” brings deadly flash floods to Vietnam

Typhoon "Kujira" hit northeastern Vietnam on Wednesday, June 24, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall which claimed lives of at least 9 people and injured six others, local authorities said on Thursday, June 25.

Kujira has dumped nearly 200 mm (8 inches) of rain in the northern regions of Vietnam over the past three days. Heaviest rain was recorded in mountainous province of Son La with a total of 280 mm (11 inches) where 8 of the 9 deaths occurred. 

"The hills don’t just absorb this amount of rain, they shed water into the gullies which turn into roaring torrents and flash floods," Al Jazeera explained.

70 houses were knocked down or swept away there, while 382 other houses were submerged, Tuoitrenews.vn reports today.

Nearly 600 hectares of rice and other crops were inundated; 6 irrigation works, 12 bridges, 7 cars and 9 motorbikes were also swept away by the floodwaters.

Heavy rain also caused landslides in various localities, damaging many sections of a number of national highways and roads.

Kujira is the first typhoon to hit Vietnam and China this year.

Before making landfall in northeastern Vietnam, Kujira hit the island of Hainan, southern China, easing long lasting drought there. In the 24 hours to 06:00 UTC on June 24, Dongfang, Hainan reported 312 mm (12.3 inches) of rain, which is about their month’s worth of rain.

There were no deaths reported in China, mainly because government ordered swift evacuations of at least 40 000 people. The storm did, however, affect millions of people and destroyed thousands of homes there.

Featured image: 72-hr rainfall accumulation as observed by GPM. Credit: Google Earth/NASA/JAXA.