The 34-year-old woman, residing on Nguyen Du Street in Truong Vinh Ward, Nghe An Province, said a widespread power outage began at 7 p.m. on 25/8. Heavy rain and increasingly strong winds battered her seemingly sturdy home, catching her off guard.
About 30 minutes later, the power pole in front of her house and numerous large trees were uprooted. While checking the damage, Tho narrowly avoided being struck by a piece of her own flying roof. With the second-floor windows shattered, she rushed her children to the relative safety of the first floor.
"Water flooded the house, and the wind howled outside. My children and I cried together. The phone signal was lost, so I couldn't call my relatives. Living in the city, I've never experienced such a terrifying storm," the 34-year-old recounted.
Around 7:45 p.m., a few hundred meters from Tho's house, a single-story home completely collapsed. The neighbor's wife and daughter escaped, but the husband was trapped inside, unable to flee in time.
The Nghe An Province Police Department of Fire Prevention and Fighting, and Rescue and Rescue mobilized personnel and two specialized vehicles to the scene. By 8:30 p.m., the trapped man was safely rescued.
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Trang Tho's neighbor's house lost its roof. Photo provided by the family |
Trang Tho's neighbor's house lost its roof. Photo provided by the family
Not everyone was as fortunate as Tho's neighbor. Typhoon Kajiki made landfall on the afternoon of 25/8 in central provinces such as Ha Tinh, Nghe An, and Thanh Hoa, resulting in three deaths, 13 injuries, damage to over 6,800 homes, and thousands of hectares of agricultural land and infrastructure. In Thanh Hoa Province, heavy rain also isolated 27 villages in Xuan Chinh, Van Xuan, and Tan Thanh communes.
Kajiki, the fifth typhoon to form in the East Sea this year, originated on 23/8. It was categorized as a very strong and complex storm with rapid and erratic movement. The typhoon reached a maximum intensity of category 14, with gusts up to category 17, comparable to Typhoon Yagi in 2024.
A collapsed school gate at Quang Trung Secondary School in Quang Trung Ward, Nghe An Province, crushes a parked car. Video: Nguyen Hung
On the afternoon of 25/8, the typhoon hit Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces with winds of categories 11-12, gusting to category 13. It then slowed considerably, at times appearing almost stationary for three hours, extending its time over land to about 10 hours. This prolonged period of strong winds significantly increased the danger.
The erratic and intense storm kept residents awake throughout the night. While many sought shelter, some families were forced to stay put. Late on the night of 25/8, a sudden gust of wind tore the tiled roof off Nguyen Van Thuan's house in Loc Ha Commune, Ha Tinh Province.
The elderly couple took refuge in their bathroom, the only room with a concrete roof. "We just held each other and waited for the wind to die down while the tiles crashed around us," Thuan said. He only ventured out at 3 a.m. to call relatives for help with temporary repairs.
In the next village, Nguyen Thi Dao, Thuan's niece, also endured a sleepless night with her two young children, aged 2 and 9. Outside, the wind howled, metal roofing sheets flew through the air, and the power was out. Her children clung to her tightly. "My house is in the middle of a field, so the wind was very strong. I heard screams as roofs were torn off, but I could only hold my children and wait for daylight," she said.
With her husband away at work, Dao panicked as the storm constantly shifted direction. She described how the winds picked up on the morning of 25/8, toppling trees and scattering debris. By 4 p.m., an eerie calm settled, with the rain subsiding, leading many to believe the storm had passed. However, just a few hours later, Kajiki returned with greater ferocity, lasting until the early hours of 26/8. "We let our guard down, thinking the storm was over. I've never seen anything like it," she admitted.
At dawn, Dao opened her door to a scene of devastation: scattered roofing, fallen trees blocking roads, and a flooded garden. The nearby school also suffered significant roof damage, with furniture strewn about. Unable to contact her family, Dao rode her motorbike to check on her neighbors. The community rallied together, buying tiles and clearing debris to repair their homes.
"By 3 a.m., everyone was already out repairing their houses," she said.
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A rice warehouse in Co Dam collapses into the river. Photo: Pham Van Thanh |
A rice warehouse in Co Dam collapses into the river. Photo: Pham Van Thanh
At 8 p.m., strong winds and heavy rain tore open the doors of Pham Van Thanh's friend's rice warehouse in Co Dam Commune, Nghi Xuan District, Ha Tinh Province, which held over 700 tons of rice. The wind caused a wall to collapse, sending hundreds of rice bags tumbling into the flooded fields.
Around midnight, when the wind subsided, 38-year-old Thanh, along with family and friends, rushed to secure the warehouse doors and cover the remaining rice with tarpaulins to minimize further damage. "We had to stay up all night to save the rice," he said. The path to the warehouse was only a few hundred meters, but strong winds, fallen trees, and flying debris made the journey treacherous.
This morning, the family received assistance from the army and police. Thanh took to social media to call on more relatives, friends, and anyone nearby to help transport the remaining rice.
"Seeing all that rice lost, it's truly heartbreaking. I've never experienced a typhoon this destructive," he said.
Song Nga
