Status: 09/28/2022 10:29 am
Typhoon Noru has caused severe flooding and damage in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia. Cambodia reports several deaths. The Vietnamese city of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is under water.
Typhoon Noru, with strong winds and heavy rain, has caused severe flooding and damage in coastal areas of Vietnam and along the Mekong River in neighboring Cambodia. The tropical storm swept across the central regions of Vietnam.
Power went out in several provinces. Trees and power poles fell, roofs were torn off and thousands of homes were damaged. In Vietnam’s third largest city, Danang, high-rise buildings swayed early Wednesday. More than 300,000 people had already spent the night in emergency shelters.
Vietnam: A scooter drives in front of a fallen tree.
Image: AFP
At least 16 dead in Cambodia
According to the authorities, no fatalities were initially reported in Vietnam. In Cambodia, on the other hand, 16 people drowned in the floods, according to civil protection.
The danger for people in the affected regions has not yet been averted: meteorologists continue to expect heavy precipitation and warn of flash floods and landslides.
UNESCO World Heritage Site underwater
The city of Da Nang and the coastal provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai in Vietnam were particularly affected by “Noru”. Popular with tourists from all over the world, Hoi An, whose picturesque old town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, was mostly under water.
Hoi An was once one of the most important ports on the ancient Silk Road. To this day, many historic buildings bear witness to this time. It is still unclear how severe the damage is.
“Noru” raged less hard than feared
“Noru” had previously passed over the Philippines and was temporarily classified as a “super typhoon”. The gusts reached top speeds of 240 kilometers per hour in the island state. At least eight people died.
The typhoon later weakened: According to the national meteorological authority, the wind speed in Vietnam was up to 133 kilometers per hour when the storm hit the coast. After that, top speeds dropped to 117 km/h.
Authorities made preparations
Meteorologists had warned that the typhoon was one of the strongest to hit the Southeast Asian country. As a precaution, the authorities had brought hundreds of thousands of people to safety and closed ten airports. The national airline Vietnam Airlines canceled 148 flights, affecting 14,000 passengers. A night curfew was also imposed. Tens of thousands of fishermen were also ordered ashore in advance.
Background: During the storm “Chanchu”, one of the worst typhoons in recent decades, around 20 fishermen were rescued dead from the ocean in 2006. More than 200 were never found.