5 dead, thousands of homes damaged in central Vietnam as Typhoon Kalmaegi strikes

A Friday report from the Government Party Committee said three deaths were recorded in Dak Lak Province and two others in Gia Lai. The storm also left three individuals missing in Quang Ngai and injured six others.

The report also showed that 52 houses totally collapsed, and almost 2,600 houses were either damaged or had their roofs ripped off. The vast majority of the damaged houses—more than 2,400—was in Gia Lai.

The storm also triggered strong waves that sank nine boats while destructive winds damaged the power supply system, causing widespread outages in Gia Lai.

Authorities attribute the minimized losses to comprehensive preparation efforts undertaken by both governmental agencies and local residents.

Provinces completed necessary preparations by 1 p.m. on Thursday, hours ahead of the storm's anticipated landfall, issuing warnings that directed 61,500 vessels with over 291,000 crew members out of harm's way ane evacuating nearly 130,000 households with over 539,000 people to safety.

Coastal defenses were bolstered by reinforcing more than 93,200 fish cages. Security measures included restricting residents from going outside after 6 p.m. and deploying a large response force: over 269,000 officers and soldiers and 6,700 vehicles, including specialized units, were on standby to maintain communications.

Typhoon Kalmaegi, the 13th storm to affect Vietnam this year, began as a tropical depression over the central Philippines on Nov. 1.

The storm moved into the East Sea on Wednesday morning with wind speeds reaching up to 149 kph, rapidly gaining strength over the warm seas, peaking at 167–183 kph by Thursday morning before striking the coast that evening.

The Philippines suffered severe destruction from the storm, with at least 140 people killed and 127 missing.