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Viet Nam: Cyclone Cecil - May 1989

Status
Past
Countries
Viet Nam
Disaster types
Tropical Cyclone

Typhoon Cecil formed as a tropical depression over the central part of the South China Sea about 740 km east-southeast of Danang on the evening of 22 May. On May 25 it made landfall about 80 km southeast of Danang and turned northwestwards again. Cecil weakened rapidly and became a tropical storm when it was about 110 km northwest of Danang. It moved westwards into Laos and weakened into an area of low pressure about 210 km west northwest of Danang on the evening of 25 May.

Cecil brought torrential rain to the central part of Vietnam and caused catastrophic floods there. In the city of Hue, streets were under two metres of water. In the central provinces of Vietnam, 140 people were killed and about 600 were reported missing. About 112,000 hectares of rice paddy and 40,000 hectares of other crops were destroyed or damaged. In addition, about 36,000 houses and 150 schools were destroyed, leaving 150,000 people homeless. Fishing boats which sank or were damaged totalled 700. There were also reports of waterworks and dams being destroyed. The remnants of Cecil also brought heavy rain to the central and northeastern parts of Thailand. (Government of Hong Kong SAR, October 1990)