HCMC – The national aviation authority will close a number of airports today, September 26, in affected areas in which Super Typhoon Noru, which is forecast to be among the four most powerful storms in two decades, could make landfall.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, under the Ministry of Transport, said it is closely monitoring the developments of the typhoon and will timely decide on the closure of the possibly affected airports.
Meanwhile, the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (DRVN), also under the ministry, has sent an emergency dispatch on measures to protect the country’s traffic infrastructure system and ensure smooth traffic flow ahead of the approaching storm.
The DRVN asked its subordinate agencies, road project developers in central provinces and cities, where the typhoon is expected to hit directly, to quickly adopt precaution measures against Noru. They must make thorough preparations in terms of human forces, vehicles and equipment to timely cope with any incident arising, so as to minimize damages caused by the typhoon.
Earlier, the Transport Ministry had urged its subordinate agencies in the maritime, aviation, road, railway sectors, and transport departments in northern and central coastal localities from Quang Ninh to Binh Thuan to take action against the nearing storm.
According to the national weather forecast center, the typhoon was spotted some 580 kilometers east of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands as of 13:00 today, packing winds of 118-149 kilometers per hour, gusting at level 15.
Noru is predicted to mainly move westward in the next 24 hours at around 25 kilometers per hour and become stronger.
By 13:00 tomorrow, the typhoon could be located right in the southern part of the Hoang Sa Islands, with powerful winds expected at 134-166 kilometers per hour, gusting at level 17.
In the next 24-48 hours, the typhoon may maintain the same direction and make landfall in the central region.
