Vietnam braces for ‘strongest storm in a decade’ as tens of thousands of people evacuate
Vietnam issued a category 4 “danger” warning, the second most severe of its five-tier warning system
Vietnam on Thursday ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate its central coastal area as Typhoon Doksuri closed in, with officials predicting the storm could be the most powerful in a decade.
Doksuri is expected to make landfall in Vietnam midday on Friday, packing heavy winds and rain.
Officials ordered an offshore fishing ban, while some 47,000 people in Ha Tinh province began leaving their homes on Thursday, according to an official from the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority who declined to be named.
The storm is forecast to lash four central provinces with heavy rain and winds of up to 155km/h, according to the Hong Kong Observatory. Panicked residents fortified their homes and hauled boats in from the water on Thursday.
“We have prepared sandbags to put on the roof so when the storm arrives it won’t be blown off,” Nguyen Thi Que, a resident of Ha Tinh province, said on state-controlled news site Zing.
Further evacuations are expected in neighbouring Quang Binh, Nghe An and Quang Tri provinces.