27 dead as typhoon batters Vietnam

DANANG, Vietnam - At least 27 people have died and nearly two dozen are missing after Typhoon Damrey barreled into Vietnam, authorities said on Sunday, damaging tens of thousands of homes and submerging highways days before the country welcomes world leaders to the APEC summit.

The storm, which made landfall on Saturday, is the worst in decades to strike the country's southern coastal region, an area normally spared the typhoons that usually hit further north.

More than 40,000 homes were damaged as heavy rains and 130 km/h winds tore through the area, leaving 27 dead and 22 missing, according to the disaster management office.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked relevant forces to mobilize people and vehicles to seek the missing people.

Coastal Khanh Hoa province, home to the popular white sand Nha Trang beach, was hardest hit with 16 dead and 10 injured, the government said.

More than 30,000 people, including foreign tourists, were evacuated from the area ahead of the storm.

Photos showed residents wading through knee-deep floodwater, as toppled electricity poles and trees blocked roads.

About 300 ships were wrecked, according to the government, while local authorities said Phu Yen province's Tuy Hoa city had never suffered such devastation before.

There were also reports of minor damage around 500 kilometers north in Danang, the coastal city which will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next weekend.

"Now city people are joining hands with authorities to clean up the mess to make the city look nicer for the APEC week," Tran Huy said.

An hour's drive south in Hoi An, an atmospheric port city and popular stop on Vietnam's tourist circuit, a local resident said floodwater was up to 1.5 meters in some parts of town.

"Water has started to rise in the Old Quarter," resident Dinh Thi Xuan Hoa told the state-run VNExpress, referring to a section of the city recognized as a World Heritage site for its architecture.

"Foreign tourists were transferred by boats to hotels in higher area," she added.

Vietnam has been pummeled by a dozen major storms since the start of 2017, with at least 240 people reported dead or missing in floods and landslides.

About 80 were killed in the weeks after Typhoon Doksuri battered central provinces in September, destroying thousands of homes and triggering severe floods.

The World Bank said natural disasters have killed more than 13,000 people and caused more than $6.4 billion in property damage to Vietnam over the past two decades.

In Malaysia, a northern state was also paralyzed on Sunday by a severe storm that led to three deaths and the evacuation of some 2,000 people in the worst flooding in years.

Penang, a popular tourist destination and manufacturing hub, has been hit by torrential rains and strong winds since Saturday, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. He said the rains were probably associated with Typhoon Damrey.

AFP - Xinhua - AP