VietNamNet Bridge – A whirlwind devastated 1,000 houses and killed several people in the northern port city of Hai Phong on June 23. A senior expert said that the whirlwind is similar as those in Central America.
Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the National Hydrometeorological Forecast Center, said that the whirlwind in Hai Phong was a great one. It swept away things on its way in a zigzag line. Such as whirlwind is very unusual in Vietnam, Hai said.

Whirlwinds also appeared in many locations in Vietnam (Nam Dinh, Nghe An) during the Haima storm, which landed in northern and central Vietnam on June 24-25. However, the one in Hai Phong was the strongest because it occurred in the afternoon, at the time the temperature in the ground was at the highest level, Hai analyzed.

Hai added that a similar whirlwind was recorded in the northern province of Nam Dinh in 1993. A whirlwind is called a waterspout if it occurs in the sea.

The whirlwind appeared in An Lu commune, Thuy Nguyen district, Hai Phong city in late afternoon of June 23. It devastated an area of 3 km long, 500 m in diameter. The wind speed was extremely high.

The whirlwind occurred within several minutes but it damaged around 1,000 houses, hundreds of trees, electric poles and swept away many cattle and family furniture.

The whirlwind caused the death of two people while four other were struck to death by lightening. Hai Phong suffered the greatest losses in the Haima storm.

Whirlwind’s consequences in Hai Phong:


PV