Typhoon Kajiki made landfall in Vietnam on Monday, unleashing dangerous winds as the powerful storm surged through the country’s central provinces – prompting authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents.
Kajiki barreled into Vietnam’s Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces at around 3 p.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) with wind speeds of 133 kph (82 mph), according to Vietnam’s national weather forecast agency.
Powerful gusts ripped through properties, uprooted trees from the ground and knocked down lampposts, according to state media. The provinces are around 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of the capital, Hanoi. Earlier, residents and business owners along the coast had boarded up windows and stacked sandbags outside homes, restaurants and hotels.
Authorities shut down schools, two provincial airports, and organized mass evacuations from coastal provinces as Kajiki – the fifth typhoon to hit Vietnam this year – churned toward the Southeast Asian nation.
More than 40,000 people had been evacuated in low-lying coastal communities as of Monday morning, according to the state-run VN Express.
