Typhoon Noru leaves hundreds of thousands of homes without power in Vietnam after crashing through Philippines

Name: Typhoon Noru knocks out power, floods streets in Vietnam
Uploaded: 2022-09-28T06:14:20.000Z
Duration: 1 min 57 s
Description: Typhoon Noru knocks out power, floods streets in Vietnam

Nearly a quarter million people took refuge in shelters overnight, after forecasters predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to hit Vietnam

Noru hit the Philippines earlier this week, knocking out power, damaging an estimated US$2.4 million worth of crops and killing six people

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A man rides a motorbike through a flooded street in Hoi An city, Quang Nam province, after Typhoon Noru slammed into Vietnam’s central coast overnight. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Pressein Da Nang

Published: 2:14pm, 28 Sep 2022Updated: 9:02am, 29 Sep 2022

Typhoon Noru barrelled into Vietnam’s central coast early on Wednesday, knocking out power for more than 500,000 households and causing flooding and property damage along the country’s central region as hundreds of thousands of people took refuge in shelters.

In Da Nang, Vietnam’s third largest city, high-rise buildings shook in the strong gusts that toppled trees and tore roofs from homes across the central region. Large scale power outages were reported.

Noru’s eye struck the coast between Da Nang and Quang Nam at about 4am local time, with gusts as strong as 117km/h (73mph), according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. In the historic town of Hoi An, some streets were flooded and strong winds downed trees.

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Typhoon Noru knocks out power, floods streets in Vietnam

Local news website VnExpress reported that at least 550,000 households have lost power, citing the deputy general director of Vietnam Electricity Group’s Central Power Corporation, Le Hoang Anh Dung. No deaths had been reported as of Wednesday morning, although four people were injured in Quang Tri province. Three houses collapsed and more than 150 lost roofs, and more than 500 trees were toppled.

More than 200,000 people in Vietnam had taken refuge in shelters overnight, after forecasters predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to hit the Southeast Asian nation.

Wind speeds were slower than initially feared, but forecasters said heavy rain would continue into the day and warned of landslides and serious flooding.

The defence ministry mobilised around 40,000 soldiers and 200,000 militia members, equipped with armoured vehicles and boats in preparation for rescue and relief operations, state media said.