Deadly Typhoon Ketsana slams into Vietnam

(30/09/2009)

A powerful typhoon slammed into central Vietnam on Tuesday, killing 32 people and flooding towns and villages along the country's long coastline after leaving a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines.

The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Ketsana rose to 246 while the economic cost was nearly $100 million, officials said. Philippine authorities braced for another storm that could hit later this week.

Ketsana, which struck Manila and surrounding provinces on Saturday, gathered strength across the South China Sea, made landfall in central Vietnam, where 170,000 were evacuated from its path. It was weakening as it headed west into Laos.

Truong Ngoc Nhi, deputy chairman of the People's Committee in Vietnam's Quang Ngai province, said on state-run television the typhoon was the worst the country had experienced in more than three decades.

Many areas of central Vietnam were inundated, including parts of the port city of Danang, state-run Vietnam Television footage showed, according to Reuters. Homes were damaged and telephone lines were down.

At least 32 people were killed in seven coastal and central highland provinces, VTV said.

National carrier Vietnam Airlines canceled all fights to Danang and schools in the affected area were closed. The airline said it would resume service on Wednesday.

The central Vietnam region hit by Ketsana lies far north of the country's Mekong Delta rice basket. Rain dumped on the Central Highlands coffee belt could delay the start of the next coffee harvest by up to 10 days but exports would not affected, traders said.

All news articles

• Deadly Typhoon Ketsana slams into Vietnam (30/09/2009)
• Hanoi keen to welcome more tourists to historical sites (16/10/2008)
• Country greets millions visitors in nine months (09/10/2008)

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