Bangkok.- Vietnam evacuated about 20,000 people on Monday in towns in the center of the country due to the proximity of Typhoon Kajiki, which is expected to make landfall tonight, so the authorities ordered the closure of two airports and declared the maximum alert for imminent
floods.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment confirmed the start of the evacuations, framed within a plan that contemplates removing about 500,000 people from their homes due to the risks associated with the storm, which today maintained winds of up to 166 kilometers per hour when it was about 120 kilometers away from making landfall.
The government insisted that it is "a very strong and very dangerous storm", so it asked the inhabitants of the provinces of Quang Tri and Thanh Hoa, where more than a million people reside, not to go out into the street "to avoid unnecessary risks".
The airports in these two provinces will remain closed this Monday, while in the city of Hue at least eight flights were canceled due to bad weather and several more are expected to be readjusted throughout the day in the central area of the country.
In addition, the Executive ordered the deployment of nearly 350,000 officers and soldiers, along with 8,200 vehicles of all types to support the response to the typhoon, according to the public agency Vietnam News.
Rainfall began to fall this Monday in the provinces under alert, as well as in Hanoi, where the storm is also expected to cause moderate to heavy rains, with possible thunderstorms.
In the last 24 hours, authorities suspended the departure of vessels in Quang Tri and Thanh Hoa, where the meteorological agency reported today that storm surges and waves of up to seven meters high are recorded, reaching up to 10 meters near the center of the storm.
It is expected that upon making landfall, Kajiki will lose strength and move from Tuesday towards Laos and Thailand, where emergency plans are already being prepared, especially in border areas with Vietnam.
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