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Vietnam prepares to evacuate half a million people ahead of Typhoon Kajiki

Vietnam prepares to evacuate half a million people ahead of Typhoon Kajiki

More than 16,500 soldiers and 107,000 paramilitary personnel have been mobilised to help with the evacuation. Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate from Vietnam’s coastline facing the South China Sea, with airports and schools shut as authorities brace for Typhoon Kajiki. The Vietnamese government said on Monday that about 30,000 people had been evacuated from coastal areas. Authorities said on Sunday that more than half a million people would be evacuated and ordered boats to remain in port. “This is an extremely dangerous fast-moving storm,” the government said in a statement on Sunday night, warning that Kajiki would bring heavy rains, flooding and landslides. More than 16,500 soldiers and 107,000 paramilitary personnel have been mobilised to help with the evacuation and to stand by for search and rescue, the government said in a statement. The typhoon with winds of up to 166km/h (103mph) at sea is due to make landfall on Monday afternoon, the country’s weather agency said. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said conditions suggested “an approaching weakening trend as the system approaches the continental shelf of the Gulf of Tonkin where there is less ocean heat content”. Two airports in the Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces have been closed, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air cancelled dozens of flights to and from the area on Sunday and Monday. Coastal provinces have banned ships from going out to sea starting Monday and were calling in those already out, said Vietnam’s news agency. Vietnam is prone to storms that are often deadly and trigger dangerous flooding and mudslides. More than 100 people were killed or went missing due to natural disasters in the first seven months of 2025, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Advertisement Last year, Typhoon Yagi killed about 300 people and caused property damage of approximately $3.3bn. ‘A bit scared’ The waterfront city of Vinh was deluged overnight, its streets largely deserted by morning with most shops and restaurants closed as residents and business owners sandbagged their property entrances. “I have never heard of a typhoon of this big scale coming to our city,” 66-year-old Le Manh Tung, in the city of Vinh, told the AFP news agency. He is sheltering alongside other evacuated families at an indoor stadium. “I am a bit scared, but then we have to accept it because it’s nature – we cannot do anything.” Houses run the risk of collapse from the storm, and even high-rise buildings could suffer serious damage, said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, the official Vietnam News Agency reported. The storm is projected to move inland across Laos and northern Thailand. Kajiki hit the southern coast of China’s Hainan Island on Sunday as it moved towards Vietnam. About 20,000 residents were evacuated from the Chinese province, which downgraded its typhoon and emergency response alerts on Monday morning. But authorities warned of heavy rain and isolated storms in cities in the southern part of the province. Adblock test (Why?)