Typhoon Noru made landfall near Vietnam’s popular beach resort city of Da Nang today morning, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated.
Noru hit Vietnam at 5 a.m. Wednesday local time, less than 36 hours hours after it left a trail of destruction in the Philippines – where it was known as Karding, according to the CNN.
The typhoon weakened a little prior to making landfall, but was still equivalent to a high-end Category 2 hurricane with winds near 175 kph, or about 109 mph.
Before its arrival, Vietnamese authorities had banned vessels from the sea and asked students to stay at home.
It will continue to bring strong winds and surges along the coast near Da Nang and is expected to weaken as it pushes inland over Southeast Asia. Central Vietnam, southern Laos, and northern Thailand face a risk of floods over the next 48 hours.
The government also said localities had instructed nearly 58,000 boats with 300,000 laborers to move to safe shelters.
Local authorities were asked on Tuesday to cancel unnecessary meetings to concentrate on storm prevention and control, according to Viet Nam News, Vietnam News Agency reported.
Thua Thien Hue province, home to more than 2,000 fishing ships and around 11,000 fishermen, also banned vessels from going out to sea on Sunday amid warnings the storm will bring strong winds, high waves and flooding, Viet Nam News reported.
According to Vietnam News, the Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired an urgent meeting with officials on Tuesday from at least eight provinces expected to be affected by the storm to discuss response efforts.
“Ministries, branches and localities, especially the heads of such units, must further enhance their responsibilities to ensure the safety, life and property of the people and the state in the context of the weather. Climate change is becoming increasingly extreme and unusual, causing very serious consequences,” the prime minister said.