Typhoon Yagi wreaks havoc on infrastructure, factories in Vietnam

Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year, was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday, after wreaking havoc in northern Vietnam, where it damaged factories and infrastructure in export-oriented industrial hubs. Vietnam's meteorological agency issued the downgrade on Sunday but cautioned about the ongoing risk of flooding and landslides as the storm, the strongest to hit the country in decades, moved westwards. On Saturday, Yagi disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, causing extensive flooding, felling thousands of trees and damaging homes. The typhoon and subsequent landslides and floods killed 21 people in Vietnam and injured 229, according to preliminary estimates from the government, after claiming the lives of four people on the southern Chinese island of Hainan and 20 in the Philippines, the first country it hit a week ago. Hanoi's Noi Bai international airport, the busiest in northern Vietnam, reopened on Sunday after closing on Saturday morning.<br/>