Typhoon Yagi hits Vietnam after devastating southern China

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Typhoon Yagi made landfall in northern Vietnam Saturday, after leaving a trail of destruction in southern China with sustained winds blowing up to 156 mph.

The tropical cyclone made landfall in China's island province of Hainan Friday afternoon as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, using the U.S. National Weather Service's Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

The storm i s the second-most powerful so far this year to make landfall, trailing only Hurricane Beryl in strength.

After hitting the Philippines as a Category 2 storm, Yagi is heading toward China's Hainan Island.

When NASA's Terra satellite took this image on Sept. 5, Yagi was equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane & one of the strongest tropical cyclones yet in 2024. https://t.co/9jeiJk45Fg pic.twitter.com/u8xbaudZf1 — NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) September 6, 2024

NASA called the super typhoon the strongest in a decade to make landfall in China.

At least four people are dead and another 95 were injured in southern China, state-run media reported Saturday.

Authorities evacuated around 400,000 people from the area ahead of the storm's arrival Friday. Flights, trains and scheduled boat trips were also suspended with schools shut.

More than 1.22 million people had been affected in some fashion by the storm in China as of Saturday morning.

Forecasters expect the storm to weaken as it moves across the rest of Vietnam through Sunday night, but are calling for torrential rain until it passes.

Yagi is continuing to move on a west-northwest trajectory.

The storm previously dumped more than 15.5 inches of rain in parts of the Philippines, leaving at least 13 people dead.

Officials in China and Vietnam area also cautioning for the potential of mudslides in the wake of sustained heavy rain.

Photos and video on Chinese state media show the scope of the destruction, with damaged buildings, flooded streets and downed trees across Hainan, including the capital of Haikou, home to three million residents.