Nearly one million residents in Vietnam’s central region are bracing for super typhoon NORU, which is forecast to bring strong winds and torrential downpours, prompting the prime minister’s urgent direction.

“In the evening of September 27, storm NORU will directly affect the coastal areas and cause landfall in the central region and North Central Highlands, mostly from Quang Tri to Binh Thuan,” stated the direction released today [September 25].

It requires the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and related forces to engage in the mission, which includes evacuation of residents, alerting people at sea to find shelters, issuing sea bans, and closing schools. Local leaders have to join the storm prevention and control.

After it swept through the Philippines, NORU gained strength, prompting evacuations in towns of Luzon Island.

The tropical cyclone is forecast to enter the East Sea (referred to as the South China Sea) on late September 25, with winds varying between 134 km/h and 166 km/h, producing hazardous winds that will cause extensive damage.

The typhoon, to occur from September 22 to 28, likely caused damage to an exposed population of 8.4 million people in the four countries of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines. The maximum wind speed is forecast at 259 km/h or Category 5, to which catastrophic damage will occur.

NORU can have a high humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population, and vulnerability, according to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), a cooperation framework between the United Nations, the European Commission, and disaster managers worldwide.

Vietnam is estimated to have “high vulnerability.”

Overview of Typhoon NORU.

Typhoon NORU will hit Vietnam in the forecast made by the US Navy.

Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh summons a meeting on Sept 25 to deal with the typhoon. Photo: VGP