Typhoon to hit Vietnam

More than 1 million evacuated from southern Vietnam as Typhoon Tembin has strengthened and is expected to make landfall today

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the Big Wobble,

25 December, 2017

Typhoon Tembin has strengthened and is expected to make landfall today along the coast of Southern Vietnam after killing 200 people with as many missing and leaving 70,000 homeless.

The storm which is now packing winds gusts of up to 115 km/h is travelling west at a speed of 22 km/h.

According to Viet Nam News, a total of more than 1.1 million people in 15 provinces and cities in the south were relocated to safe places before Typhoon Tembin could make landfall.

According to the Central Hydrometeorological Forecast Centre, at 7 am today, the storm’s centre lay some 320km east of Côn Đảo, off the waters of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu. Wind speed reached up to 90-115km per hour.

Dozens of flights to and from Hồ Chí Minh City, Phú Quốc and Cần Thơ have been cancelled due to Typhoon Tembin.

Vietnam Airlines (VNA), Jetstar Pacific (JPA) and VASCO (OV) announced plans to reschedule Monday’s flights due to the storm.

An update

Tembin: Storm weakens as it nears southern Vietnam

A tropical storm that was threatening southern Vietnam has weakened and is expected to dissipate within 48 hours.

The Weather Prediction Center says Storm Tembin, with wind gusts up to 58mph (93km/h), is 170 miles south-southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, and is moving westward.

Nearly a million people were earlier told to prepare for evacuation and some 70,000 were moved from low-lying areas.

Tembin killed at least 240 people as it swept through the Philippines.

Rescuers are searching for more than 100 people still missing.

Bridges and roads on the southern island of Mindanao were destroyed or blocked by landslides, while nearly 1,000 houses were wrecked and many rice fields washed away.

In Vietnam, the government earlier ordered oil rigs and vessels to be secured and warned that about 62,000 fishing boats should not go out to sea, Reuters news agency reports.

"Vietnam must ensure the safety of its oil rigs and vessels," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was quoted as saying. "If necessary, close the oil rigs and evacuate workers."