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People flee powerful cyclone
23/11/2007 12:08 - (SA)
Hanoi - Vietnamese authorities began evacuating 200 000 people on Friday as a powerful typhoon packing winds of 133km/h approached the country's south central coast.
Typhoon Hagibis is expected to slam into Vietnam on Saturday, the fourth major storm to hit the country since September and the seventh this year.
The evacuations began as heavy rains soaked central and southern Vietnam.
"We are very worried about flooding," said Doan Thanh Trung, head of flood and storm control department for southern provinces based in Ho Chi Minh City.
In Ninh Thuan province, thousands of people living near beaches were told to leave, said Hoang Thi Ut Lan, vice chairperson of the province's People's Committee.
"Some of them did not want to leave their houses, but to ensure their safety, police and militiamen forced them to move," Lan said. About 21 000 people in the province were to be evacuated before nightfall.
Militiamen in Binh Dinh planned to evacuate nearly 100 000 people, said provincial disaster official Dam Van Loi.
In neighbouring Phu Yen, authorities planned to shift 50 000 people from coastal areas, said Pham Ngoc Tri, chairperson of Phu Yen People's Committee.
Fishermen take shelter
"The weather has been so hard this year," he said. "Our people have suffered from many rounds of flooding since October, and now comes a typhoon."
The central government said on Friday that nearly 240 000 Vietnamese fishermen on about 43 400 fishing boats have taken shelter, including 3 900 fishermen in Indonesia and Malaysia.
One fisherman in Phu Quy island off the country's south central coast was reported missing on Thursday while trying to anchor his boat, officials said.
The government urged provincial authorities to stockpile food, medicine and water treatment chemicals to be distributed to areas affected by floods.
Meanwhile, floods and unfavourable weather conditions could delay coffee deliveries by nearly two months, a trader said.
"Normally, the coffee harvest starts in mid-October and peaks in early November, but this year, the harvest has barely started," said trader Le Dinh Tho from the central highlands province of Daklak, the country's major coffee-growing region.
Floods and storms have killed 368 people so far this year, including about 240 since early October, and caused an estimated 7.2 trillion dong in damage.
- AP
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