Vietnam to evacuate 28,000 residents ahead of Goni landfall

Evacuating residents in Quang Nam province ahead of Goni landfall.

More than 8,000 people living in central provinces have moved from coastal, low-lying and flood-prone areas to a higher ground, it was reported at an urgent meeting on November 5 to examine preparedness for the storm.

Localities from Quang Ngai to Khanh Hoa have called in nearly 50,000 fishing boats to travel ashore or to storm shelters. They have also banned fishing boats from setting sail, while as many as 4,050 people working at fish cages have been required to move ashore.

At 10.00am November 5, tropical storm Goni was located 220km off the central coast, with winds gusting 75kph. In the next 24 hours, it is forecast to weaken into a tropical depression and strike coastal provinces from Quang Nam to Ninh Thuan.

Goni will dump heavy rain of 200-350mm on central, Central Highland and south-central provinces, said Hoang Phuc Lam, deputy director of the National Centre of Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

He also warned about a high risk of flashfloods and landslides to occur in coastal, low-lying and mountainous areas from Ha TInh to Phu Yen provinces, as well as the Central Highland region.

Goni is the 10th tropical storm that has hit the East Sea this year. In October alone, four storms battered central Vietnam, leaving more than 200 people dead and dozens missing.

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