Typhoon Damrey killed at least 27 people in central and southern Vietnam while 22 are still missing, the government said on Sunday, after the storm swept into the country just days ahead of the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.
Damrey reached land at 4 am local time (2100 GMT on Friday), with winds gusting at up to 90 kmph (56 mph), that tore off more than 1,000 roofs, knocked down hundreds of electricity poles and uprooted trees.
More than 600 houses have been destroyed and nearly 40,000 others damaged as the typhoon caused widespread blackouts across the region
The missing include 17 crew members of cargo ships that were sunk off the coast of the central province of Binh Dinh, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement. Seventy-four other crew members were rescued earlier.
The storm made landfall near the city of Nha Trang, which is around 500 km (310 miles) south of the coastal city of Danang, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is taking place next week.
There were reports of high winds and rain in Danang, but no immediate reports of casualties. The city will host US President Donald Trump from 10 November as well as China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and counterparts from other APEC members.
The storm moved from the coastal area into a key coffee-growing area of the world's biggest producer of robusta coffee beans. Traders had expected the storm to delay harvesting, but were not sure whether it would damage the crop.
The typhoon also caused extensive damage to the region's rice fields and other crops while 228 fishing boats were sunk or damaged. It left some 1,500 passengers stranded at railway stations. More than 40 flights were cancelled.
Floods killed more than 80 people in northern Vietnam last month while a typhoon wreaked havoc in central provinces in September. The country of over 90 million people is prone to destructive storms and flooding due to its long coastline.
(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)