Typhoon Noru Hits Vietnam After Battering Philippines, Prompting Mass Evacuations

People push a motorbike in a flooded street following the passage of Typhoon Noru in Hoi An city, Quang Nam province on Sept. 28, 2022. Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Vietnam as powerful Typhoon Noru made landfall in the country two days after the storm devastated and inundated homes in the Philippines.

The storm reached the coast of Central Vietnam on Sept. 27 at 117 kilometers per hour (73 mph), mainly in Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai. An unspecified number of schools and shops have been closed.

Vinh International Airport has said it would be temporarily closed and will actively monitor the situation. More than 133,000 residents have been evacuated, and curfews have been imposed in Quang Nam province.

Fallen trees, torn roofs, and widespread power outages have been reported, affecting more than a half million families in several provinces.

There have been no fatalities recorded as of Sept. 28, VN Express reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh said on Sept. 28 that while the storm has weakened to a tropical depression, he urged people to remain vigilant for possible flash flooding from torrential rains.

A man rides a motorbike in a flooded street following the passage of Typhoon Noru in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, on Sept. 28, 2022. Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images

Nguyen Van Huong, head of the weather forecast department under the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, anticipated the country’s north-central region would receive rainfall of 100 to 250 millimeters (as much as almost 10 inches) from Sept. 28 to Sept. 30.

“Experiences from recent storms show that when storms land, we are relatively safe, but when they have gone, there would be damages left behind due to landslides and flash floods, and therefore people need to pay attention,” he said.

A man walks along the beach following the passage of Typhoon Noru in Danang, Vietnam, on Sept. 28, 2022. Nhac NguyenAFP via Getty Images

The typhoon was expected to make landfall in the central and southern provinces of Laos on Sept. 28. The Lao weather bureau has issued a warning and requested that all dams prepare emergency plans.

The Thai Meteorological Department predicted on Sept. 27 that the storm will hit Thailand’s northeastern provinces on Sept. 29 before weakening to a tropical depression. It warned of subsequent heavy rains, according to local reports.

8 Killed in the Philippines

Typhoon Noru was the most powerful storm to hit the Philippines this year, killing at least eight people when it made landfall on Sept. 25, including a group of rescuers scrambling to save villagers trapped in floodwaters.

Residents pass by a flooded road from Typhoon Noru in San Miguel, Bulacan Province, Philippines, on Sept. 26, 2022. Aaron Favila/AP Photo

Five government rescuers drowned in the town of San Miguel in Bulacan province after their boat overturned when it was hit by a collapsed wall, tossing them into rampaging floodwaters, police and officials said.

Nearly 80,000 people were moved to emergency shelters, some forcibly, across the main Luzon island, disaster-response officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.