Typhoon Yagi

Typhoon Yagi, locally named Enteng by PAGASA and Typhoon No. 3 of 2024 (Vietnamese: Bão số 3 năm 2024) in Vietnam, was a powerful and significant tropical cyclone which caused extensive damage in Southeast Asia and South China in early September 2024. Yagi was the eleventh named storm, the first violent typhoon, and the first super typhoon of the 2024 Pacific typhoon season. It is the strongest typhoon in 70 years to strike Vietnam, according to the country's government, the strongest typhoon to strike China during the meteorological autumn, and one of the four Category 5-equivalent super typhoons recorded in the South China Sea, alongside Pamela in 1954, Rammasun in 2014 and Rai in 2021.

Yagi originated from a low-pressure area that formed on August 30, approximately 540 km (330 mi) northwest of Palau. On September 1, the system was classified as a tropical storm and named Yagi by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). After making landfall over Casiguran, Aurora, in the Philippines, on September 2, Yagi weakened as it moved inland through the rugged terrain of the Cordillera Central in Luzon. It later emerged over the South China Sea and began merging with a secondary circulation west of Lingayen Gulf, with its deep convection starting to wrap and develop convective bands extending west and south. On September 5, the JMA reported that the storm reached its peak intensity with ten-minute maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a central pressure of 915 hPa (27.02 inHg). It initially peaked as a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with one-minute sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph). After weakening due to an eyewall replacement cycle, Yagi rapidly reintensified to a second Category 5 peak with one-minute sustained winds of 270 km/h (165 mph), thus becoming the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the South China Sea and the only tropical cyclone to intensify to Category 5 twice in this body. After peak intensity, Yagi began weakening before making landfall near Wenchang of China's Hainan Province on September 6. Yagi passed over northern Hainan and directly over Haikou, before moving into the open waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. It made landfall over Haiphong and Quảng Ninh, Vietnam, on September 7 and moved southwestward inland until it was last noted on September 9.

The combination of Typhoon Yagi and the southwest monsoon led to heavy rains over Luzon, causing widespread flash floods in various areas. The Hong Kong Observatory issued a Gale or Storm No. 8 warning as Typhoon Yagi approached. The Chinese island of Hainan experienced extreme rainfall and over 57,000 buildings were damaged. In preparation for Typhoon Yagi, schools and transport services in areas within the storm's trajectory were closed. In the Philippines, 21 people were killed while 26 others were reported missing. In Vietnam, over 329,000 structures were affected and 325 people died, with 24 more missing; a majority of the casualties were caused by landslides. The remnants of Yagi caused catastrophic flooding and landslides in Myanmar, where at least 433 deaths and 79 missing were confirmed. These remnants also caused extensive flooding and deaths in Laos and Thailand. In total, the typhoon caused at least 844 deaths, 2,279 injuries, and left 129 people missing. Yagi also damaged, flooded or destroyed over 741,800 structures, resulting in over $14.7 billion (2024 USD) in damage across eight countries. The names Yagi and Enteng were later retired and were replaced by Tomo and Edring respectively.