'State of calamity' as typhoon threatens Vietnam

Vietnam began evacuating more than 180,000 people from its central coast as powerful Typhoon Xangsane approached from the Philippines, where it left at least 63 people dead and about 70 missing, officials said today.

“The evacuation, the biggest ever in central Vietnam, must be completed before 5pm Saturday,” said Van Phu Chinh, head of the regional Flood and Storm Control Department in Danang.

The evacuees were from nine central provinces that could be affected by the typhoon, he said.

About 522 fishing boats with nearly 4,800 fishermen on board were still out at sea, he said.

In Danang, soldiers helped fishermen who had returned to shore move their boats to higher land today.

People streamed out of coastal communities, boarding buses and motorcycles to seek shelter inland in schools and government buildings.

Xangsane, packing winds of 120 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph, was expected to make landfall in central Vietnam early tomorrow, according to the national weather centre.

In the Philippines, at least 63 people were killed by flash floods, landslides and falling debris, officials said today. About 70 others were missing, the Office of Civil Defence said, adding that close to 40,000 people were forced to flee their homes in metropolitan Manila and 15 northern and central provinces.

Electricity was restored to about 60% of the main Philippine island of Luzon, which suffered a total blackout at the height of the typhoon on Thursday, the state-run National Transmission said. Large areas in the southern Luzon region were still without electricity.

Metropolitan Manila and nearby provinces were declared under a state of calamity, which allows local officials to quickly draw emergency funds for relief and rehabilitation.

In Vietnam, heavy rains are expected in central provinces later today, the national weather centre said, warning the storm could unleash flash floods and landslides across the region.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung was directing emergency operations in Danang, and urged provincial governments to report to the operations centre every two hours, today’s Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan (People) reported.