The death toll from Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam has risen to 14, with the storm now downgraded to a tropical depression after causing widespread damage, including ripping roofs off buildings, sinking boats, and triggering landslides.

The typhoon left a path of destruction, claiming two dozen lives across southern China and the Philippines before hitting Vietnam. A family of four was killed in a landslide in the mountainous Hoa Binh province of northern Vietnam early Sunday morning, according to state media. The landslide occurred around midnight, following several hours of heavy rain brought by Yagi, when a hillside collapsed onto a house, as reported by VNExpress, citing local authorities.

Since Friday, 10 others have died in storm-related incidents, some crushed by falling trees or drifting boats, according to the defence ministry's disaster management agency. Although Vietnam's weather agency downgraded the storm on Sunday, several areas of the port city of Hai Phong were submerged under half a metre (1.6 feet) of flood waters, with electricity out due to damaged power lines and electric poles, as observed by AFP journalists.

At Ha Long Bay, a Unesco World Heritage site about 70 km up the coast from the city, fishermen were in shock as they assessed the damage on Sunday morning. The disaster management authority reported that 30 vessels sank at boat lock areas in coastal Quang Ninh province along Ha Long Bay after being battered by strong winds and waves. The typhoon also damaged nearly 3,300 houses and more than 120,000 hectares of crops in the north of the country.

Rooftops were blown off buildings, and motorbikes were left toppled over in piles of debris, as noted by AFP journalists. Pham Van Thanh, a 51-year-old crew member of a tourist boat, said all the vessel's crew remained on board since Friday to prevent it from sinking. "The wind was pushing from our back, with so much pressure that no boat could stand," Thanh told AFP. "Then the first one sank. Then one after another."

Bui Xuan Tinh said he lost both his home and business to the "destructive" typhoon and would need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to repair his three wooden tourist boats after they sank in a lock on Tuan Chau island. "I have been in this sea (and) ship business for decades and have never witnessed such a thing like yesterday," Tinh said. "Then I received a phone call from my kids at home saying our rooftop was blown off. I did not feel anything. What came to my mind was only 'Oh God, oh God'."

Before making landfall in Vietnam on Saturday, Yagi tore through southern China and the Philippines, killing at least 24 people and injuring dozens of others. Typhoons in the region are now forming closer to the coast, intensifying more rapidly, and staying over land for longer due to climate change, according to a study published in July.