Vietnam set to evacuate 1.3 million people as Typhoon Molave nears after lashing Philippines
- Molave is forecast to make landfall in central Vietnam on Wednesday, after leaving the Philippine island of Luzon
- The Vietnamese authorities have ordered troops to transport people with helicopters, tanks and other vehicles
“This is a very strong typhoon that will impact a large area,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in an urgent warning to provinces and cities in Molave’s path to prepare.
“Troops must deploy full force to support people, including mobilising helicopters, tanks and other means of transportation if needed,” Nguyen said in a statement.
Molave, with wind speeds of 125km/h and gusts of up to 150km/h, left the main Philippine island of Luzon earlier on Monday, with heavy rain causing seven landslides and floods in 11 areas, the disaster agency said.
There were no reports of casualties, but 12 fishermen at sea failed to return to Catanduanes province off the country’s eastern coast.
The typhoon locally known as Quinta forced nearly 25,000 people in the Bicol region to leave their homes amid threats of landslides and flash floods, Philippine authorities said. Classes were suspended the capital region and in several provinces.
Molave is the 17th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year. About 20 cyclones pass through the disaster-prone Philippines a year, mostly in the second half.
The government in May said storms are likely to complicate the nation’s fight against the coronavirus as it will have to evacuates tens of thousands of people from typhoon-hit areas.
Vietnam army barracks hit by landslide, 14 soldiers dead, eight more missing
Molave is forecast to make landfall in central Vietnam on Wednesday, with wind speeds of up to 135kph.
It will be the fourth storm to hit Vietnam in a tumultuous month during which floods and landslides have killed 130 people and left 20 missing in the central region.
Vietnam is prone to destructive storms and flooding due to its long coastline.
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More than 100 killed, 22 missing in Vietnam’s floods
About 11.8 million people in Vietnam’s costal provinces are exposed to the threat of intense flooding, with 35 per cent of settlements located on crowded and eroding coastlines, a World Bank report said last week.
Central parts of Vietnam have been overwhelmed by heavy rains since October 5 as three storms battered the central coast.
Deaths have been reported in 12 provinces stretching along the central Vietnamese coastline and up into the central highlands, Vietnam‘s Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said in a report.
Sixteen national roads, spanning 165km, were damaged or destroyed, causing major traffic disruption. Nearly 7,500 hectares of rice and crops have been flooded and 5,876 cattle and 685,000 heads of poultry killed.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg, dpa
