Typhoon Damrey sweeps into Vietnam before APEC Summit, 27 dead

A powerful typhoon battering Vietnam has killed at least 27 people and left 22 others missing amid extensive damage along the south-central coast just days ahead of the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders.

Damrey reached land at 4 a.m. 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.

The missing include 17 crew members of cargo ships that were sunk off the coast of the central province of Binh Dinh. Seventy-four other crew members were rescued earlier.

More than 600 houses have been destroyed and nearly 40,000 others damaged as Typhoon Damrey caused widespread blackouts across the region.

The government earlier said six ships had capsized with 61 people on board in the South China Sea and that 25 people had been rescued, but gave no details as to the possible fate of the others.

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.

A storm batters a street in Nha Trang, as Typhoon Damrey descends on southern Vietnam, in this still image taken from social media video, November 4, 2017. (@SINITSYN_NIKITA/Reuters)

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 Nov. 10 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 government said more than 40,000 hectares of crops had been damaged, including sugar cane, rice fields and rubber plantations. 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.