Typhoon Rammasun Slams Vietnam; Over 100 Dead

Typhoon Rammasun made landfall in Vietnam over the weekend, triggering heavy floods, destroying homes and crops, and blocking roads with landslides, said the Vietnam News, an English-language daily published by the official Vietnam News Agency.

The paper's website carried photos that showed streets and local markets in the city of Lang Son and elsewhere submerged in water, with residents floating on rubber tires or rafts or huddling under makeshift tents.

Rammasun had earlier battered southern China, killing 33 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes, China's official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

It was the strongest typhoon to hit China's southern region in 41 years, damaging roads and ports, cutting electricity and water supplies, and hampering rescue efforts as it swept through dozens of coastal cities. Xinhua reported that 608,000 people have been evacuated due to Rammasun.

At least 64 people in the Philippines were killed when the storm hit earlier in the week.

(FORECAST: Typhoon Rammasun)

According to Xinhua News Agency, Rammasun was the most powerful storm in at least nine years and possibly since 1973.

More than 40,000 people were evacuated from Wenchang and Qionghai, the South China Morning Post reports. Authorities required resorts and tour bus companies to suspend operations through Saturday afternoon. Xinhua said authorities had ordered the highest level of disaster alert for the region.

The local news website Hainan Net said ferries to the mainland and train service on the eastern part of the island were suspended. Xinhua reported that 36 trains in the Guangxi region west of Guangdong had been stopped. More than 250 flights have been canceled at the area's two airports, stranding some 10,000 travelers, the South China Morning Post reports.

The storm brought high winds and rain to Hong Kong and was due to plow through northern Vietnam after passing Hainan.

Rammasun barreled through the northern Philippines on Wednesday, drenching the capital, Manila, and knocking out power to whole provinces. Philippine authorities said most of the deaths could be attributed to falling debris like trees and concrete, pushed over by Rammasun's winds. Alexander Pama, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council said that the typhoon destroyed more than 7,000 houses, $14 million in crops and damaged more than 19,000 homes.

A landslide in Quezon forced 21 families to evacuate, although no one was hurt, according to the Natural Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center. Flooding in the Leyte province made several bridges impassable. In Batangas City, the Calumpang bridge was washed out by a swelling river.

The death toll could've been worse, however, if not for the evacuation of some 500,000 people across a dozen or so provinces in the Philippines. Although the capital city of Manila was spared the brunt of the storm—most power had been restored in Manila by Thursday— thousands in areas to the southeast of the capital city remained without power.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Photos from Typhoon Rammasun