According to the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, a man residing in Van Chan district of Yen Bai province was killed by lightning on May 1.

Heavy rain accompanied by whirlwinds blew away the roofs of 76 houses in the districts of Tran Yen and Luc Yen and flattened nearly 70 hectares of paddy fields and forest trees. Damage is estimated to be at around VND1 billion.

Meanwhile, in Lao Cai the roofs were blown off of approximately 249 houses and several public structures, including schools, cultural houses, and a hydraulic work. Eight electricity poles and one telecommunications pole were also damaged during the height of the thunderstorms.

Torrential rains also unroofed 280 houses and damaged dozens of hectares of subsidiary crops in Bac Kan province.

Significant damage was also reported in Tuyen Quang province, with 678 houses unroofed, whilst about 600 hectares of rice and subsidiary crops were damaged.

Moreover, 19 electricity poles were broken and 70 barns were destroyed while two buffaloes and 600 chickens and ducks were killed by the whirlwinds.

Response teams have been fanned out to guide people to reinforce their homes to minimise the damage caused by heavy rain and whirlwinds.

VOV