23 dead as Vietnam braces for typhoon Ketsana

Some 23 people have been killed and 170,000 people have been evacuated as typhoon Ketsana roared into Vietnam today. Ketsana left more than 200 dead as it hit The Philippines on Saturday as a weaker tropical storm that left millions of families homeless as floods destroyed everything in their wake. Today, after gather strength over the south China sea, Ketsana now upgraded to a typhoon is expected to hit central Vietnam this afternoon south of the city of Danang, then move west across central Laos and into neighbouring Thailand, the national weather centre said. Already it has killed 23 people in Vietnam and brought flooding and winds of up to 90 mph.

Falling trees killed two people in Quang Nam province, and another died when struck by a power line, Nguyen Minh Tuan, a local disaster official told Associated Press news service. "The rivers are rising and many homes are flooded, and several mountainous districts have been isolated by mudslides," Tuan said. A 3-year-old drowned in a flooded home in Thua Thien Hue province, a falling tree killed a man, and a woman died in floodwaters. As the storm moved inland towards Laos, nine people died in Kon Tum province in the Central Highlands, including a family of five whose house was buried in a mudslide, disaster official Nguyen Van Vy said. Deaths were also reported in Danang and the province of Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai. "There's a blackout across our entire province," said Truong Ngoc Nhi, vice governor of Quang Ngai province, south of Danang. "Many streets are strewn with fallen trees and utility poles. It looks like a battlefield." Vietnam Airlines cancelled all flights to the tourist destinations of Danang and Hue.

Relief workers said the government had evacuated 170,000 people as a precaution. Lasse Norgaard, of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told the United Nations news service from the country’s main northern city, Hanoi. "The people have been taken to safe houses – evacuation centres and schools,” he said. “Schools have been closed for the next two days, and normal offices have been closed. People have been told to stay at home and flights have been cancelled," he said. Aid agencies said the army, local authorities and volunteers had been warning people about the coming storm, urging them to stay indoors, and the government has stockpiled food and water. But relief workers warned that the potential impact of the typhoon on livelihoods could be devastating. "There is a concern that it is rice harvesting season at the moment, so potential crop loss could be severe," said Peter Newsum, for the development organisation, Care International in Vietnam.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children