Vietnam starts mass evacuations, shuts airports as Typhoon Kajiki approaches

Vietnam has shut down airports, closed schools, and initiated mass evacuations as it prepares for the most powerful storm so far this year.

Typhoon Kajiki was packing winds of up to 166 kph (103 mph) as it approached Vietnam’s central coast and was forecast to grow stronger before making landfall on Monday afternoon, the country’s weather agency said.

“This is an extremely dangerous fast-moving storm,” the government said in a statement Sunday night, warning that Kajiki would bring heavy rains, flooding and landslides.

The storm was 150 km off the central coast as of 12 a.m. GMT, the weather agency said. The eye of the storm is forecast to hit an area between Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces around 9 a.m. GMT (9 p.m. Sunday ET).

With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to storms that are often deadly and trigger dangerous flooding and mudslides.

The Vietnamese government said Kajiki was expected to be as powerful as Typhoon Yagi, which battered the country less than a year ago, killing about 300 people and causing $3.3 billion of property damage.

Authorities said on Sunday that more than half a million people would be evacuated and ordered boats to stay ashore.

Two airports in Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces have been shut down, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have cancelled dozens of flights to and from the area.

Kajiki skirted the southern coast of China’s Hainan Island on Sunday as it moved toward Vietnam, forcing Sanya City on the island to close businesses and public transport.