Vietnam and China brace for Typhoon Nari

2013-10-15

Parts of Vietnam and China are bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Nari, which has left at least 13 people dead in the Philippines.

The typhoon hit the Philippines over the weekend, inundating northern provinces, and was expected to make landfall in central Vietnam on Tuesday.

Vietnam's weather forecaster has warned of heavy rain and destructive winds.

Heavy rain was also expected in China's Hainan, Guangdong and Fujian on Monday, Xinhua news agency said.

At least 750,000 people were affected by the typhoon, Philippine officials said, before it made its way out into the South China Sea.

In anticipation of the storm's arrival, Vietnam had moved at least 55,000 people living in the coasts of Thua Thein Hue and Da Nang to safety, state media media said. Boats had also been advised to berth.

"Very strong winds are expected from later Monday. There might be heavy rains of up to 500mm [20 inches] over the next few days," the head of Vietnam's national weather forecast centre was quoted by Agence-France Presse as saying.

In southern China, Hainan authorities had issued a red alert for the storm, state broadcaster CCTV said on its official Twitter account.

Last month, Typhoon Wutip caused destruction in Vietnam, damaging tens of thousands of houses, state media said.

In China, at least 10 fishermen died after boats were hit by strong winds.

Source from : BBC

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