Mass evacuation as storm nears

HANOI – Vietnam is evacuating up to 500 000 people from central coastal areas ahead of Tropical Storm Lekima, which was forecast to make landfall yesterday night with wind speeds of up to 117km/h, officials said.

Four central provinces – Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh – have plans to evacuate all people living in coastal areas to higher ground by lunchtime, using any means possible, said Nguyen The Luong, head of the Central Flood and Storm Department. Nghe An province, where the eye of the storm is forecast to hit, has a plan to evacuate more than 160 000 people, officials said.”The military have sent 800 soldiers to support local people to evacuate, mostly to schools in districts located further inland,” Ha Huy Thong with the provincial flood and storm department said, adding that Nghe An has closed all schools.”People are using their own motorbikes and bicycles or are even walking to the shelters,” Thong said.”Authorities are preparing food and drinking water for them.”At 00h00 GMT yesterday, Lekima, named after a Vietnamese fruit, was 200km east of the shore of Nghe An province with wind speeds of 89 to 117km/h, the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Centre said.The storm, which was moving west at 15km/h, hit the Chinese island of Hainan late on Tuesday after killing at least eight people in the Philippines.Floods and storms have killed at least 86 people in Vietnam since the beginning of this year.In 2006, more than 600 people were killed by floods and storms, including more than 200 people killed in Typhoon Chanchu in May last year.The death toll from Chanchu – mostly of fishermen caught at sea -prompted calls for more early storm warning and evacuation plans in Vietnam.Sapa-dpaNghe An province, where the eye of the storm is forecast to hit, has a plan to evacuate more than 160 000 people, officials said.”The military have sent 800 soldiers to support local people to evacuate, mostly to schools in districts located further inland,” Ha Huy Thong with the provincial flood and storm department said, adding that Nghe An has closed all schools.”People are using their own motorbikes and bicycles or are even walking to the shelters,” Thong said.”Authorities are preparing food and drinking water for them.”At 00h00 GMT yesterday, Lekima, named after a Vietnamese fruit, was 200km east of the shore of Nghe An province with wind speeds of 89 to 117km/h, the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Centre said.The storm, which was moving west at 15km/h, hit the Chinese island of Hainan late on Tuesday after killing at least eight people in the Philippines.Floods and storms have killed at least 86 people in Vietnam since the beginning of this year.In 2006, more than 600 people were killed by floods and storms, including more than 200 people killed in Typhoon Chanchu in May last year.The death toll from Chanchu – mostly of fishermen caught at sea -prompted calls for more early storm warning and evacuation plans in Vietnam.Sapa-dpa