Typhoon Noru forces closure of 5 central Vietnam airports

Typhoon Noru, one of the biggest to hit Vietnam in 20 years, has forced five airports in the central region to suspend operations for at least 24 hours, starting Tuesday.

As ordered by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam's (CAAV), Danang Airport in Danang city, Phu Bai in Thua Thien-Hue province, Pleiku in Gia Lai province, and Phu Cat in Binh Dinh province will close between 12 a.m. Tuesday and 11:59 a.m. Wednesday.

The Chu Lai Airport in Quang Nam province will remain closed from 7 a.m. Tuesday and 6:59 a.m. Wednesday.

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways have canceled flights departing from or arriving at the five airports.

Flights from or to other airports in the region, including Vinh Airport in Nghe An province, Dong Hoi in Quang Binh province, Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen province, Lien Khuong in Lam Dong province, and Buon Ma Thuot in Dak Lak province might be rescheduled, the carriers said.

Noru, forecast to be one of the strongest typhoons to hit Vietnam in 20 years, on par with storm Xangsane, is heading straight to Vietnam's central region and Central Highlands.

The super typhoon entered the East Sea early Monday morning and is expected to hit Vietnam's central provinces in about 10 hours. Noru is the fourth storm to hit the East Sea this year.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, by 4 a.m Tuesday, the eye of the storm was about 250 km from the Paracel (Hoang Sa) Archipelago with level 13 (134-149 km per hour) winds and level 16 gusts.

All ships, aquaculture areas and activities in the area are at high risk of being impacted by strong winds, high waves and flooding.

Due to typhoon impacts, from Monday, waters in the northern part of the East Sea will be extremely rough with 8-10m waves. In addition, torrential rains of 150-300 mm are forecast in the central region and Central Highlands from Tuesday to Wednesday. As a result, regional authorities have been warned of level 3 and 4 national disaster risks.

Localities have been asked to cancel unnecessary meetings to concentrate on typhoon prevention and control, ban vessels from the sea and let students stay home.

They have been asked to keep a close watch on the storm's developments and promptly implement directions from central agencies while guiding vessels to seek shelter and supporting farmers to protect fisheries farms.

Central localities have already planned to evacuate 860,000 residents and fortify facilities.

Typhoon Xangsane hit Vietnam in 2006, damaging 350,000 houses and 1,000 ships, injuring 532 people, killing or displacing 76 citizens, and causing damages of VND10,000 billion ($421.5 million).

Vietnam recorded an economic loss of nearly VND5,800 billion ($244.3 million) due to natural disasters in the first eight months of this year, 6.3 times higher than the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Natural disasters killed or left missing 118 people, injured 80 others and damaged 210,800 hectares of paddy and vegetable gardens and nearly 14,500 houses.