Central Vietnam ravaged by Typhoon Molave

A street in Quang Ngai Province was left in a mess after the storm (Picture by Dantri)

By Lan Phong
Head of World News, Dantri Online Newspaper, Vietnam

HANOI: Thousands of houses have been damaged, and trees uprooted as Typhoon Molave hit the area of 500 kilometres along the central coastal region of Vietnam on Wednesday afternoon.

The storm, said to be the strongest in 20 years in the country, made landfall from Danang to Phu Yen provinces at 12pm, with wind speed at 115-135 km per hour, before weakening at around 2.30pm.

In Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam, and Phu Yen provinces, strong wind together with heavy rains threw house roofs and uprooted trees.

Fallen trees on a street in Danang City (Picture by Dantri)

Some 1.7 million households in 10 provinces in the Central and Central Highlands regions saw widespread power outages and telephone line cuts.

By late Wednesday afternoon, some 1,500 households in Kon Tum Province and 400 households in Binh Dinh Province have been isolated by rising floods after the storm.

tourist boats are damaged on Ly Son Island in Quang Ngai (Picture by Dantri)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, said that the storm had caused large asset loss to the area.

He also warned that the storm would cause heavy rains which may trigger flooding and landslides in the area which already experienced a history flood over the last weeks.

flood is rising on Tra Khuc River in Quang Ngai (Picture by Dantri)

There have not been official statistics on the deaths and injuries while rescue forces are still looking for 26 fishermen who remained missing after their two boats sank while trying to avoid the storm on October 27 in Binh Dinh Province’s sea area.

A flooded road in Binh Dinh Province (Picture by Dantri)

Earlier, flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains following a storm in the central province of Vietnam from October 6-25 had left 130 dead and 18 others missing.