Vietnam evacuates tens of thousands ahead of Typhoon Kajiki

VINH, Vietnam: Tens of thousands of residents were being evacuated from coastal Vietnam on Monday, as Typhoon Kajiki barrelled towards landfall expected to lash the country’s central belt with gales of around 160 kmh.

The typhoon — the fifth to affect Vietnam this year — is currently at sea, roiling the Gulf of Tonkin with waves of up to 9.5 metres (31 feet).

More than 325,500 residents in five coastal provinces have been slated for evacuation to schools and public buildings converted into temporary shelters, authorities said.

The waterfront city of Vinh was deluged overnight, its streets largely deserted by morning with most shops and restaurants closed as residents and business-owners sandbagged their property entrances.

By dawn nearly 30,000 people had been evacuated from the region, two domestic airports were shut and all fishing ships in the typhoon’s path called back to harbour.

It is expected to make landfall around 1:00 pm (0600 GMT) with winds of 157 kilometres per hour (98 miles per hour), Vietnam’s National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.

However, its power is due to dramatically dissipate thereafter.

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”.

Over a dozen domestic Vietnamese flights were cancelled on Sunday, while China’s tropical resort of Hainan evacuated around 20,000 residents 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.

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.

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.