One dead as Storm Noul hits central Vietnam

The dead victim, whose identity has not been revealed, was crushed by a falling tree in Thua Thien-Hue Province’s Phong Dien District, according to the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

At least 23 others in the central province were injured, two of them critically, as the storm blew away the roofs of more than 1,600 houses and felled many roadside trees.

Local authorities said the province has been battered by heavy rains since Thursday, with the rainfall measured at 150-250 mm in 24 hours. The daily level of 180 mm is considered heavy.

In Quang Binh Province, at least six people were injured while a woman in the nearby Quang Tri was swept away by strong currents and is missing.

In the ancient town of Hoi An in Quang Nam Province, heavy rains inundated many streets and caused erosion at the Cua Dai Beach. The beach had reopened in 2017 after being closed for three years as a result of severe erosion. The province’s Cham Islands received rainfall of 260 mm.

In Da Nang, torrential downpours with rainfall of between 150 and 210 mm since Thursday morning triggered heavy flooding and inundated many parts of the city.

The tropical depression is forecast to move west at 25 kph before weakening into a low pressure zone over central Laos later on Friday.

Weather experts have said northern and central localities should expect heavy rains of up to 300 mm a day in the coming days.

Noul is the fifth tropical storm formed this year in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea. The fourth, Higos, made landfall in China last month.

The East Sea could see 11-13 storms and tropical depressions this year, half of them affecting Vietnam, meteorologists have warned.

Its long coastline makes Vietnam particularly prone to destructive storms and flooding. Natural disasters, predominantly floods and landslides triggered by storms, killed 132 people and injured 207 others in the country last year.