At 7:00 AM on August 26, Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà chaired the 4th meeting of the Forward Command Committee for Typhoon No. 5 response, following the landfall of the storm in Hà Tĩnh and Nghệ An on the evening of August 25.
According to the rapid report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the storm’s circulation was extensive, covering almost the entire East Sea of Viet Nam, and brought widespread rainfall from the North to the North Central region.
As the typhoon moved close to the Central coast, its forward motion slowed, at times nearly stationary for more than three hours, and after landfall it continued moving very slowly, remaining over land for about 10 hours (from 18:00 on August 25 to 04:00 on August 26). This prolonged strong wind duration, raising danger levels.
On the afternoon of August 25, Typhoon No. 5 made landfall in Nghệ An – Hà Tĩnh with intensity of Level 11–12, gusting to Level 13. By early morning August 26, it had moved into central Laos and weakened into a tropical depression.
Due to the typhoon’s impact, from August 24 to the morning of August 26, Hà Tĩnh recorded extremely heavy rainfall ranging from 200–450 mm; Thanh Hóa and Nghệ An saw 200–400 mm; Quảng Trị 150–300 mm; the northern region 100–200 mm; and some stations recorded very high totals: Thượng Tuy (Hà Tĩnh) 673 mm, Cẩm Xuyên (Hà Tĩnh) 599 mm, Kỳ Phong (Hà Tĩnh) 589 mm, Vạn Xuân (Thanh Hóa) 534 mm, Hủa Na (Nghệ An) 464 mm.
Heavy rainfall caused flooding on the Mã River (Thanh Hóa): at Cẩm Thủy station, 19.31 m, 0.31 m above Alert Level 2; at Giàng station, 4.0 m (Alert Level 1) and still rising. On the upper Cả River (Nghệ An), at Thạch Giám station, 66.98 m, 0.98 m above Alert Level 1; on the Gianh River (Quảng Trị), water had peaked above Alert Level 1 and was receding.
Forecasts indicated that by 16:00 on August 26, the tropical depression would weaken and dissipate. From early August 26 to early August 27, midland and delta areas of the North, as well as Sơn La and Lào Cai, were expected to receive 60–120 mm of rainfall, with localized totals over 200 mm. On August 26, Thanh Hóa to Hà Tĩnh would see 50–100 mm, with some locations over 150 mm. There was a high risk of landslides in northern mountainous areas and from Thanh Hóa to Hà Tĩnh.
Flooding on rivers in Thanh Hóa and Nghệ An continued to rise: on the Bưởi River, above Alert Level 2–3; on the Mã River, at Cẩm Thủy reaching Alert Level 2–3, at lower Giàng reaching Alert Level 1–2; on the Cả River (Nghệ An), at Con Cuông, 29.75 m, 0.5 m above Alert Level 3, and at lower Nam Đàn below Alert Level 1. Warning was issued for the Hoàng Long River (Ninh Bình) rising to Alert Level 1–2.
By the morning of August 26, key dyke and reservoir systems remained safe; hydropower and irrigation dams were secure; infrastructure, telecommunications, and transport networks continued operating during the typhoon (unlike the widespread disruption seen during Typhoon Yagi).
Initial damage caused by Typhoon No. 5
According to preliminary reports from provinces as of 06:00 on August 26, Typhoon No. 5 caused 3 deaths (1 in Nghệ An, 1 in Hà Tĩnh, 1 in Ninh Bình), 10 injuries (1 in Phú Thọ, 5 in Hà Tĩnh, 4 in Quảng Trị); 7 houses collapsed (Hà Tĩnh); 6,802 houses damaged or unroofed (6,340 in Hà Tĩnh); and 3,094 houses flooded (1,935 in Thanh Hóa, 1,129 in Hà Tĩnh).
The storm inundated 28,814 ha of rice (4,443 ha in Nghệ An, 20,802 ha in Hà Tĩnh, 2,108 ha in Quảng Trị), 2,221 ha of crops (524 ha in Nghệ An, 1,673 ha in Hà Tĩnh), 2,202 ha of fruit trees (Hà Tĩnh), and felled 17,968 trees (241 in Thanh Hóa, 1,914 in Nghệ An, 15,813 in Hà Tĩnh).
There were six landslides along rural transport routes (3 in Thanh Hóa, 3 in Quảng Trị), localized flooding of roads, and 11 inundated low-water crossings in Thanh Hóa that caused traffic disruption, as well as in 7 communes of Quảng Trị.
The electricity system reported 3 incidents on the 500kV transmission grid (2 restored), 4 incidents on the 220kV grid (all restored), 331 utility poles toppled (28 in Thanh Hóa, 225 in Nghệ An, 22 in Hà Tĩnh, 17 in Thái Nguyên, 4 in Phú Thọ), and 1,273,479 customers lost power.
Localities are continuing efforts to overcome consequences and consolidate damage data.
