Typhoon Bualoi claims 51 lives, damages estimated at US$600 million

The natural disaster also destroyed 349 houses, over 172,000 houses were damaged or had its roof blown off, reported the Department of Dike Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

Nearly 89,000 hectares of paddy, vegetable crops were also damaged. Up to 50,000 hectares of forest were inundated. Over 17,000 hectares of aquatic cultivation, 2,200 castles and 519,000 poultries were swept away.

Serious floods and landslides blocked traffic at 7,600 locations from the north down to the central region. Over 33,000 meters of riverbanks and coastal embankments eroded. Over 200 irrigation works were damaged. Nearly 1,500 schools were affected. The typhoon also toppled more than 6,400 electricity poles. Over 83,000 trees were uprooted. Nearly 2.7 electricity customers suffered from power disruptions.

Preliminary estimates of economic damage are at more than VND 15,864 billion (over US$ 600 million), with the central province of Ha Tinh suffered from the heaviest loss of VND6 trillion, followed by Tuyen Quang VND3 trillion, Lao Cai VND2.7 trillion and Nghe An VND2.1 trillion.

With a long coastline, Viet Nam is prone to typhoons that are often deadly. Earlier, Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm in 2024 killed around 300 people and caused damages estimated at US$3.3 billion across northern Viet Nam.

Raising funds to support storm victims

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led the Government Office and the Government Party Committee's assistant agencies to donate at least one day's salary to help residents in areas devastated by recent storms and floods, at a fundraising ceremony hosted by the agencies in Ha Noi on Friday.

Pham also delivered messages to encourage localities and citizens to overcome difficulties and restore stability swiftly.

A day earlier, Pham approved over VND2.52 trillion (US$100 million) from the central budget reserve in 2025 for 15 localities to support livelihoods; repair dikes, irrigation reservoirs and disaster prevention facilities; restore essential infrastructure; and resettle residents in urgent disaster-hit areas affected by natural disasters since early this year.

On October 2, the Presidium of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee launched a national donation drive for victims of Typhoon Bualoi.

The Viet Nam Fatherland Front opened official bank accounts to receive public donations in support of people in disaster-hit areas. Contributions can be made to any of the following:

• VietinBank: Account name 'Ban Van đong cuu tro Trung uong' (account number: 55102025), opened at Đông Hà Nội Branch.

• BIDV: Account name Uy ban Trung uong MTTQ Viet Nam (account number: 8639699999), opened at Thang Long Branch.

• Agribank: Account name 'Ban Van đong cuu tro Trung uong' (account number: 1400666102025), opened at Láng Hạ Branch.

• Vietcombank: Account name Mat tran To quoc Viet Nam – Ban cuu tro Trung uong' (account number: 8888881010), opened at So giao dich Branch./.