Typhoon Noru makes landfall in Vietnam

Hanoi, The Gulf Observer: Typhoon Noru made landfall in Vietnam early on Wednesday, causing damage to thousands of homes and widespread flooding, German press agency, reported.

Noru tracked directly towards the coastal city of Quang Nam and Da Nang province in the early hours of Wednesday, bringing wind speeds of up to 117 kilometers per hour as a category 4 storm before making landfall, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The cyclone reached Vietnam days after it hit the Philippines on Sunday as the strongest storm there this year and killed at least eight people. No fatalities have been reported in Vietnam but at least nine were injured while trying to reinforce their houses on Tuesday.

The Vietnamese meteorological authority warned that central parts of the country from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai provinces will suffer more heavy rain, with an estimated 150-250mm of total rainfall. Rainfall could total 300mm in some places, causing landslides and flash floods.

Ten airports closed due to the storm, with national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines telling local media it had cancelled 148 flights, affecting around 14,000 passengers.

Vietnamese authorities on Tuesday mobilised over 270,000 military personnel to deal with the storm, while residents prepared by fortifying their homes with sandbags.

Hundreds of thousands of people living in vulnerable areas along the central coastline were also evacuated ahead of the storm.

The storm is expected to dissipate as it crosses over land and into the mountainous coffee-growing regions of central Vietnam.