Typhoon Noru ripped off roofs from houses and caused power outages across central Vietnam on Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands fleeing for shelter after the storm claimed at least 10 lives in the Philippines.
High-rise buildings shook in Danang, Vietnam’s third-largest city, as the typhoon made landfall in the early hours of Wednesday, bringing winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, according to the national forecaster.
More than 300,000 people in Vietnam took to shelter overnight after forecasters predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to ever hit the country.
Wind speeds were lower than initially feared, but forecasters said heavy rain would continue into the day and warned of landslides and severe flooding.
The Defense Ministry has mobilized some 40,000 troops and 200,000 militiamen equipped with armored vehicles and boats to prepare for rescue and relief operations, state media said.
In the popular tourist town of Hoi An, the Hoai River was about to burst its banks while the ground was littered with metal roofs and fallen trees, damaging cars and blocking roads.
“The typhoon was terrible last night. I couldn’t sleep because the wind was so strong and noisy,” resident Nguyen Thi Hien told AFP.
About 300 houses in the coastal province of Quang Tri had their roofs ripped off late Tuesday as winds picked up speed.
“I heard the sound of fallen trees and signs outside. I was afraid. But we were so prepared that luckily the losses weren’t that bad.”
Local residents rushed to clean up the rubble early Wednesday, some shops were already open and tourists were taking to the streets.
Almost half of Vietnam’s airports have been closed as of Tuesday noon, schools and offices in several central provinces have also been shut down, while Danang banned the public from taking to the streets.
The central section of the highway linking Hanoi in the north with the commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City in the south has been closed.
– Deaths in the Philippines –
The impact on Vietnam came after Noru slammed into the Philippines earlier this week as a super typhoon with winds up to 195 km/h, leaving 10 dead and eight missing, the civil defense agency said.
Noru was predicted to move further inland and pass through Laos on Wednesday before reaching Thailand’s northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani on Thursday and gradually weakening into a tropical depression.
Thai authorities warned of heavy rain and possible flash floods and said people living in high-risk areas should prepare to evacuate their homes.
Vietnam is often hit by severe storms during the rainy season between June and November, with the central coastal provinces being hardest hit, but scientists have warned they will intensify as the world warms due to climate change.
