Vietnam has evacuated tens of thousands of residents from coastal areas as Typhoon Kajiki made landfall, lashing the country's central belt with gales of more than 130km/h.
The typhoon - the fifth to affect Vietnam this year - struck the Gulf of Tonkin with waves of up to 9.5 metres before hitting shore around 3:00pm (9am Irish time).
Nearly 30,000 people were evacuated from the region as 16,000 military personnel were mobilised and all fishing boats in the typhoon's path were called back to harbour.
Before the typhoon landed in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, two domestic airports were shut and 35 flights cancelled.
Waterfront Vinh city was impacted overnight, its streets largely deserted 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," said 66-year-old Le Manh Tung at a Vinh indoor sports stadium.
"I am a bit scared, but then we have to accept it because it's nature - we cannot do anything," he told AFP - he is among only a few dozen people camped out at the evacuation site this morning.
The typhoon made landfall packing windspeeds between 118 and 133km/h, Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.
"Rain will continue today and tomorrow, and with that huge rainfall risks for floodings and flash floods on rivers are very high," director Mai Van Khiem said.
Scientists say human caused climate change is driving more intense and unpredictable weather patterns that can make destructive floods and storms more likely, particularly in the tropics.
"Normally we get storms and flooding, but never this big," said 52-year-old evacuee Nguyen Thi Nhan.
The typhoon's power is due to dramatically dissipate after it makes landfall.
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".
China's tropical resort island of Hainan evacuated around 20,000 residents yesterday as the typhoon passed its south.
The island's main city, Sanya, closed scenic areas and halted business operations.
In Vietnam, more than 100 people have been killed or left missing from natural disasters in the first seven months of 2025, according to the agriculture ministry.
Economic losses have been estimated at more than $21 million (€17 million).
Vietnam suffered $3.3 billion in economic losses last September as a result of Typhoon Yagi, which swept across the country's north and caused hundreds of fatalities.
Accreditation: AFP
