Typhoon prompts Vietnam evacuation
More than 150,000 people have been evacuated along Vietnam’s northern coast while the country braces for Typhoon Damrey.
On Monday, the government moved about 76,000 people, mostly children, women and the elderly from six coastal districts in Thanh Hoa province to schools, local government offices and private homes further inland, provincial disaster official Tran Quang Trung said.
Meanwhile, more than 50,000 people, including the army and police, were mobilised to reinforce sea dikes in the province, he said.
In neighbouring Nghe An province, about 40,000 people were being evacuated, provincial disaster official Nguyen Van Vinh said.
About 50,000 people were being evacuated from Nam Dinh province, north of Thanh Hoa, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee’s Tran Minh Oanh said.
Heavy rains
With winds of up to 133kph, Typhoon Damrey was expected to make landfall on Tuesday morning, said an official at the National Meteorology Centre.
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Vietnam is prone to storms that |
Heavy rains were forecast for northern Vietnam on Monday evening and Tuesday, he said.
Vietnam is prone to floods and storms which kill scores of people each year.
Damrey slammed into southern China‘s Hainan island early on Monday.
With wind speeds of up to 198kph, it was the island’s strongest typhoon since September 1973, China‘s official Xinhua News Agency said.
While still a tropical storm in the Philippines last week, Damrey triggered rains that killed at least 18 people.