Typhoon Bualoi death toll rises to at least 30 across Southeast Asia

Typhoon Bualoi has now taken over 30 lives in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Vietnamese officials have proclaimed it the worst storm to strike their country in 2010.

On Monday, September 29, the typhoon struck the northern part of central Vietnam, resulting in intense winds, huge sea waves, and heavy rains.

The situation following the event has been dire, with Vietnam recording 19 casualties and 21 citizens remain missing.

The excessive rainfall of over 300mm in particular places has also led to flash floods and landslides that have blocked roads and left communities isolated in the northern parts.

Urban flooding was severe in the Hanoi, capital of the Vietnam, where traffic was paralyzed and houses flooded.

In the Nghe An, central province of Vietnam, the floods reached up to the rooftops and devastated more than 100,000 houses, sweeping large areas of farmland.

At least 11 people had lost their lives in the Philippines as a result of the storm last week, with the small Philippine island province of Biliran having been hit badly.

Flooding has been reported in 17 provinces of Thailand, claiming four lives in Ayutthaya, whose officials had set up barriers around temple ruins to guard against any floods.

Bualoi has now been downgraded into a tropical depression, and it is approaching Laos. Scientists have cautioned that global warming is increasing the severity of such storms as they are making them stronger and wetter, and this is still threatening the storm-prone areas.