Ferocious hailstorm lashes northern Vietnam, over 3,000 households severely affected

April 06, 2016 | 09:44

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A hailstorm featuring gale-force winds swept through provinces of northern Vietnam on Sunday, damaging thousands of homes and leaving one injured, a local official said.

Tang Quoc Chinh, deputy chief of the Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said that as the storm raged in Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang and Yen Bai, 18 dwellings collapsed; five in Tuyen Quang and 13 in Yen Bai.

Once the storm subsided, local authorities carried out inspections and enacted solutions to minimize damage, as well as offering support to local farmers and residents.

The latest reports said on Monday that the climatic event injured one man in An Phong Village, Tan Thinh Commune, Chiem Hoa District, Tuyen Quang after he was hit on the head by a hailstone while farming.

There were 3,066 homes which had their roofs punctured by hailstones, with diameters ranging from three to ten centimeters, Chinh said, adding that Tuyen Quang had the most homes damaged, 2044, followed by those in Ha Giang and Yen Bai, 959 and 63, respectively.

Ten classrooms in Tuyen Quang also had their roofs lifted off by the weather event, he said.

The hailstorm also devastated 548 hectares of food crops in Tuyen Quang, and left 990 hectares of vegetable crops in Ha Giang destroyed, according to reports.

Tran Quoc Hiep, chief of Chiem Hoa Hydrological Office, said that this is the first time in 30 years he had witnessed a hailstorm with such large hailstones.

The office said that bad weather conditions, especially hail, vortexes, and thunderstorms, usually occur in Tuyen Quang at this time of year.

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