At around 6 p.m. on May 10, a powerful tornado accompanied by heavy rain struck Ea Kiết Commune in Cư M’gar District (Đắk Lắk Province), causing severe damage to houses, property, and crops.
According to a preliminary survey in eight of the commune’s thirteen villages and hamlets, the storm completely collapsed or ripped the roofs off 20 houses and blew away 30–50 percent of the roofs on another 50 houses. Several classrooms and teachers’ quarters at Hoa Mai Kindergarten were damaged, forcing classes to be canceled on May 11.
The tornado also snapped and uprooted more than 200 mature rubber trees belonging to the Buôn Za Wầm Forestry and Industrial Crop Enterprise, and about 500 coffee, cashew, and pepper plants owned by local farmers.
Nguyễn Văn Lực, Chairman of the Ea Kiết Commune People’s Committee, said the tornado raged for over 20 minutes with destructive force, breaking three power poles and cutting off the commune’s electricity supply. Local authorities have mobilized militia and police to clear fallen trees, restore traffic, and help families whose homes were destroyed or lost their roofs to make temporary repairs.
The commune has compiled detailed damage reports to request support from Cư M’gar District so residents can recover and stabilize their lives. According to Chairman Lực, this is the most powerful tornado the area has experienced in over 20 years. Initial estimates put total losses for Ea Kiết at several billion đồng (equivalent to billions of Vietnamese dong).