Typhoon Kalmaegi Batters Vietnam, Another Storm Threatens โthe Philippines
HANOI, Vietnam – Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall in Vietnam Friday asโ the country’s central region โคcontinued to recover from devastating floodsโ triggered by recordโ rainfall. Together,โข the Philippines is bracing for the arrival of โขa new, as-yet-unnamed storm, raising concerns of further widespread disruption in a โregion increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events.
Authorities in Vietnam evacuated over 537,000โ people, many by boat, ahead of Kalmaegi’sโฃ arrival, as rising floodwaters and the โคthreat of landslides loomed. The โฃstorm is forecast to โคdeliver up to 24 inches (600 millimeters) of rain in some areas before moving into Laos and northeast Thailand.three โคVietnamese fishermen remain missing โขafter their boat was swept away โby strong waves nearโ Ly Son Island off Quang Ngai province, though search efforts were suspended Thursday due to deteriorating conditions.
The double threat underscores the growing frequency and intensity of typhoons and storms impacting southeast โAsia.โ The Philippines, typically experiencing around 20 typhoonsโ and storms annually, andโ Vietnam, hit by roughly a dozen each year, have both endured a relentless storm season.โ Vietnam has been particularly hard-hit in recent weeks, following torrential rains โฃfrom Typhoon Ragasa in late september, and subsequent impactsโค from typhoons Bualoiโค and matmo, which โcollectively caused over 85 deaths โฃor missing persons and anโ estimated $1.36 billion in damage.
scientists โขattribute the increasing severity of โขthese storms to a warmingโข climate. “If you look at the climatology for the Philippinesโข and for Vietnam, it’s almost the entire year that thay โฃcan get them because the warm waters that fuel the storm just are there,” explained Kristen โฃCorbosiero, a professor ofโ atmospheric andโ environmental sciences โat the University at Albany. She noted that Kalmaegi and Fung-Wong are the 26th and 27th named storms of the season, exceeding โthe typical 23 by this time of year, and thatโฃ Kalmaegi ranks as the fourth strongest typhoon this season.
The approaching storm to the Philippines adds to the region’s anxieties,highlighting the urgent need for preparedness and mitigation strategies in the face of a changing climate.
