See the typhoon

Typhoon Damrey, which left 16 people dead on China's island province of Hainan, brought torrential rain and 100km/h (60mph) winds.

Homes and rice crops in Vietnam's Thanh Hoa and Nam Dinh provinces have been flooded after sea dykes were breached.

"The priority is to evacuate people in danger and then to reinforce dykes," Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said.

Nearly 300,000 people were moved from the Vietnamese coast before the typhoon hit on Tuesday morning, one of the largest such operations ever undertaken.

Sea surges

It is not yet clear how much damage Damrey - which means elephant in Khmer - has done, but local officials warned it was the most powerful to hit northern Vietnam in several years.

One man was killed in Thanh Hoa province and nine people injured across the region as electricity poles and houses collapsed, according to reports.

In pictures: Typhoon Damrey

State media said many homes and thousands of hectares of rice fields had been flooded after a network of dykes was breached.

Several northern and central provinces suffered power blackouts, amid reports of trees and power lines knocked down, roofs blown off and powerful sea surges up to 15ft (4.5m) high, made worse by high tides.

Nguyen thi Huong, from Nam Dinh province, told the BBC: "We feel very scared, especially after a man evacuated from a neighbouring district says the outside dykes have broken.

"The authorities have ordered us to evacuate and I'm leaving but many of the families have decided to stay on as they think their houses are steady enough. I'm not sure though."

A resident of Thanh Hoa province said the authorities had prepared well for the storm.

Killer winds

Chinese officials described it as the worst typhoon to strike the province in decades.

Economic losses have been estimated at 10bn yuan ($1.2bn), Xinhua said.

Many homes were damaged, power lines cut, and experts have warned of huge losses to the harvest of rice, rubber and bananas. There have also been warnings of severe delays in restoring electricity to parts of the island.

According to Xinhua, the typhoon packed winds up to 198km/h (125mph) when it hit Hainan, making it comparable with Hurricane Rita which hit the US Gulf Coast at the weekend.

While still a tropical storm last week, Damrey triggered rains in the Philippines that killed at least 18 people.

Typhoons frequently hit Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China throughout the summer and autumn.

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I'm sitting at my desk watching the weather outside. We were all thinking of sitting in the pub next door until the storm died down but it already seems a lot calmer outside. Earlier in the day, while I was coming to work on my motorbike it was very hard to see anything as the rain was whipping at my face and the gusts of wind were very strong. I was a bit worried about getting hit by a falling tree.
Neil Roberts, Hanoi Vietnam

There was a government warning yesterday that the typhoon would hit Hanoi, so schools closed early and we sent our Vietnamese staff home so they could stock up on supplies. However, the night was windy, but pretty calm apart from that. So this morning we asked: "was that all?" before we learned that the typhoon had changed its path south of Hanoi. This afternoon however, torrential rains came down on Hanoi, flooding streets and creating huge traffic jams. I suppose that's what it is being in the periphery of a typhoon. Now, at 17:40, everything seems calm again.
Bengt Loosdrecht, Hanoi, Vietnam

Travelling in Vietnam at the moment. Fled to the north west mountains from Hanoi to avoid Damrey but experiencing torrential rains. Vietnamese were still keen to sell us $20 train tickets to the eye of the storm. Only aware of the storm via the internet.
Matt and Robin, Bristol, England

I am a Brit currently working in Hanoi for a couple of weeks. Heavy rain and winds here with a few trees blocking roads but no severe damage. Tourists hoping to do Halong Bay boat trips will be disappointed for several days as tourist boats were banned from going out to sea from as early as Saturday. The government seems to have done a great job in disaster preparedness.
Trudy, Hanoi,Vietnam

The winds started last night (Monday) the rain started in the early hours, it hasn't stopped raining in Hanoi, for over 12 hours, the streets are flooded, and with the heavy traffic, we have seen a few fatal motorbike accidents.
Nathan Waddington, Hanoi, Vietnam