Tropical storm Wutip ripped through central Vietnam Monday, downing more than two Chinese fishing boats stationed near the Paracel Islands and leaving 75 fishermen unaccounted for.
Wutip pulled trees up from their roots, knocked over power lines and caused damage to more than 1,000 homes, the Associated Press reported. No citizens have reported sustaining injuries, nor have officials confirmed serious flooding or loss of large buildings.
The national weather center in Vietnam reported that Wutip had slowed from a typhoon to a tropic storm before making landfall, with winds up to 117 kilometers, (73 miles) per hour. Anticipating a serious storm brewing, officials moved tens of thousands of citizens living in the storm's projected path to higher ground one day prior.
The coast guard alerted about 61,000 fishing boats housing a total of around 303,000 crew members to get out of the water and seek shelter on land. Schools in five provinces of central Vietnam were closed, AP reported.
According to state-run Chinese news service Xinhua, search and rescue teams in the South China Sea are still looking for the 75 fishermen that were on board one of the boats that got swept up in the storm near the coast of the Paracel Islands. As of 12 p.m. on Monday, 14 survivors were found strewn about the waters. Four of the fishermen were injured and sent to Sansha Municipal People's Hospital to receive medical treatment.
"Rescue ships that cannot resist strong gales cannot go to sea," Wang Qingyan, one of the officials working with the Hainan provincial marine forecast center, told Xinhua. "Big waves prevent rescue ships from approaching and pose great risks for the ships...Strong gales will continue to hit the region, which will cause big trouble for the rescue."
Tropical Storm Wutip was easily the strongest typhoon to hit Vietnam during this year's hurricane season.
Typhoon Usagi, which hit the Philippines and China earlier in September, was the most powerful and devastating storm this year.
