Weakened Typhoon Haiyan sweeps over Vietnam and into China
Updated November 12, 2013 06:38:41
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Video: Zoe Daniel reports from a village in the typhoon-devastated Philippines city of Tacloban. (ABC News)
Photo: Typhoon Haiyan packed winds of about 120 kilometres an hour as it hit northern Vietnam. (AFP)
Video: Zoe Daniel reports from recovering Philippines (7.30)
Related Story: Typhoon hits Vietnam as millions await aid in devastated Philippines
Map: Vietnam
Typhoon Haiyan has swept over Vietnam, uprooting trees and tearing roofs off hundreds of homes, but sparing the country the widespread devastation wrought on the Philippines.
The storm, which is feared to have killed more than 10,000 people in the Philippines, has weakened significantly but still packed heavy rain and winds of 120 kilometres per hour as it slammed into northern Vietnam.
Government officials say the storm has left 13 people dead and 81 injured in Vietnam.
The capital, Hanoi, was largely unscathed, but coastal towns and cities popular with tourists are among the worst-hit.
Nguyen Cong Thuan, a disaster official in Quang Ninh province, said hundreds of houses have been damaged in the country's north.
"Several hundred houses had their roofs ripped off. Thousands of trees in the province were uprooted," he said.
"Three people were reported missing."
In pictures: Super Typhoon Haiyan
Take a look at the devastation left behind by Haiyan - one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded.
More than 650,000 people were evacuated over the weekend as the weather system bore down on Vietnam, but state media said all of the evacuees had now returned home.
Residents in the northern port city of Hai Phong said the storm caused their houses to shake.
"The storm was really big. I cannot think of any other bigger storm than this over the past several years. I felt my house shaking last night," Nguyen Hung Nam, 70, said.
"We were quite well prepared, so I don't think there is that much damage."
'Great sense of relief' as Vietnam escapes Haiyan's worst
Susan Mackay, the chief of communications for the United Nations in Vietnam, says it was a relief the storm was not as bad as feared.
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"We're obviously still doing the assessment because communication has not been ideal ... but the initial reports I've seen and heard from local media is that the storm surge was not as bad as had been feared," she told PM.
"We are receiving reports of damaged buildings, roofs blown off, fallen trees; the usual kind of damage that we see in a tropical storm. So many individuals are very seriously affected."
Ms Mackay says the country was extremely well-prepared for Haiyan's landing.
"There was no sense of complacency," she said.
Audio: Susan Mackay speaks to Peter Lloyd (PM)
"Vietnam is a country that is well used to tropical storms and typhoons. This is the 14th storm of the season.
"The government has an extraordinary level of response. They invest both in preparedness and response, and the highest state of alert was called by the prime minister.
"The preparations have been underway for days now. They activated both civil and military capacities. This is a country that is very resilient and extremely well prepared."
Photo: Firemen carry corpses of victims of Typhoon Haiyan during a mass burial on the outskirts of Tacloban, in the Philippines, on November 14, 2013. (AFP: Philippe Lopez)
Photo: People affected by Typhoon Haiyan wait as a US Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter drops supplies at Tacloban Air Base, the Philippines, in the aftermath of the typhoon, November 14, 2013. (AFP: Ricardo R Guzman/US Navy)
Photo: A coastal town, devastated by super Typhoon Haiyan, in Samar province in central Philippines on November 11, 2013. (Reuters: Erik De Castro )
Photo: A man takes a break from salvaging reusable woods from his damaged house on November 11, 2013, after Typhoon Haiyan hit Tabogon town in Cebu Province, central Philippines. (Reuters: Charlie Saceda)
Photo: A cargo ship washed ashore by Typhoon Haiyan sits among the ruins of Tacloban in the central Philippines on November 11, 2013. (Reuters: Romeo Ranoco)
Photo: Typhoon Haiyan packed winds of about 120 kilometres an hour as it hit northern Vietnam.
Photo: Survivors stand among debris and ruins of houses destroyed after Super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 10, 2013. Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines province of Leyte, a senior police official said on Sunday, with coastal towns and the regional capital devastated by huge waves. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path as it tore through the province on Friday, said chief superintendent Elmer Soria, a regional police director. (Reuters: Erik De Castro)
Photo: The Daniel Z Romualdez airport in Tacloban City, Philippines, pictured before and after Typhoon Haiyan. (ABC News)
Photo: US Marines board a KC-130J Hercules aircraft at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, moments before departing for a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, November 10, 2013. (US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl David N Hersey)
Photo: Survivors stay in their damaged house after Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in the central Philippines, November 10, 2013. (Reuters: Romeo Ranoco)
Photo: Residents collect sandbags to protect their houses against Typhoon Haiyan in Vietnam's central Da Nang city, on November 9, 2013. (Reuter: Duc Hien)
Photo: Residents walk past debris and destroyed houses along a road in Tacloban City, Leyte province, in central Philippines on November 10, 2013, three days after devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the city on November 8. (AFP: Ted Aljibe)
Photo: A man walks among debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, the eastern island of Leyte province in the Philippines on November 9, 2013. (AFP: Noel Celis)
Photo: People walk among debris of fallen tress at Tacloban airport in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, the eastern island of Leyte on November 9, 2013. (AFP: Noel Celis)
Photo: Survivors assess the damage after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city, in central Philippines November 9, 2013. (Reuters: Romeo Ranoco)
Photo: An aerial view shows damaged houses in a coastal community, after Typhoon Haiyan hit Iloilo Province in the central Philippines. (Reuters: Raul Banias)
Photo: International Space Station astronaut Karen Nyberg photographs Super Typhoon Haiyan from space on November 9, 2013. (Twitter: AstroKarenN)
Photo: High waves pound a sea wall amidst unprecedented winds as Typhoon Haiyan hit the city of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila. (AFP: Charism Sayat)
Photo: Flooding and major damage has been reported in Tacloban city in Leyte province. (Twitter: Rolando Quibedo via @visualdreamer)
Photo: Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, hits Leyte in Philippines (Facebook: Tecson John S. Lim)
Photo: A tree uprooted by strong winds along a main road in Barangay Mabolo in Cebu city. (Facebook: Red Cross/The Freeman)
Photo: Cebu Governor Hilario Davide speaks to residents of Brgy Capitol Site evacuated to Provincial Capitol. (Twitter: The Freeman @TheFreeman)
Photo: Power has been cut in some areas of Sorsogon province. (Twitter: Johnson Manabat @johnsonmanabat)
Photo: The Philippine state weather service says wind gusts from Haiyan reached 275 kilometres an hour. (Facebook: Rommel Rutor/The Freeman)
Photo: Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines captured by geostationary satellites. (Japan Meteorological Agency/EUMETSAT)
Gallery: Typhoon Haiyan slams Philippines
'Full blown humanitarian crisis' in Philippines
Meanwhile, a huge international relief operation is underway in the Philippines in the wake of the catastrophic super typhoon.
James Reynolds, a storm chaser and television producer, says the storm came ashore with "terrifying ferocity".
"I was in the city of Tacloban, which was ground zero," he told PM
"I've been through many typhoons and cyclones and I was preparing for this one to be bad. But it's hard to envisage whole city blocks up in flames as uncontrollable fires raged, corpses in the street, tsunami-like damage."
Audio: Listen to Will Ockenden's report (PM)
Only a few buildings remain standing in Tacloban, and Mr Reynolds says with many villages outside the city still cut off, the toll is likely to rise.
"I'm hearing reports of 10,000 [dead] in Tacloban alone, that's one in every 20 residents of the city," he said.
"No doubt, many villages south of the main city, which may not have been reached yet, are home to hundreds, maybe thousands of people, and their fate could well be unknown."
Tim Grieve, who works with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Manilla, says the situation is a "full-blown humanitarian crisis".
Audio: Aid worker describes Typhoon ordeal (PM)
"It's going to take some time before we can get the full operation going in terms of being able to provide clean drinking water and to provide food and shelter," he said.
"We've got a huge amount of debris, and also [the] bodies on the road. It's making it very difficult."
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has pledged a $10 million aid package, with $4 million for the United Nations, $3 million for Australian non-governmental organisations and $1 million for the Red Cross.
At least six dead as Haiyan moves across Chinese coast
Another six people died after Haiyan crossed China's south coast, state-run media say.
Three pedestrians were hit by falling walls or advertising hoardings in the southern island province of Hainan, a local newspaper said.
One drowned in the neighbouring Guangxi Zhuang region, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
Two sailors were found dead after their cargo ship was cast adrift in the storm, Xinhua added, citing maritime rescue authorities in Hainan, and rescuers were still searching for another five crew members lost at sea.
Nearly 600 houses were damaged and 51 collapsed in the downpours and strong winds brought by the typhoon, the civil affairs ministry said in a statement, and 39,000 people were evacuated in Hainan.
ABC/AFP
More on Typhoon Haiyan
Official Philippines death toll almost doubles to 4,000
Missing Australians make contact with family following Typhoon
Climate change making typhoons worse: UN
Australia and other nations promise aid to Philippines
Before and after: The destructive force of Typhoon Haiyan
In pictures: Trail of destruction left by Super Typhoon
Topics: storm-disaster, disasters-and-accidents, vietnam, philippines, china
First posted November 11, 2013 20:46:24
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