HANOI, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Damrey, the 12th typhoon in the South China Sea so far this year, landed in Vietnam's central region on Saturday morning, one day before the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Week in Da Nang city, causing various property losses.
After Damrey landed, the two provinces of Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen faced heavier rain, with sea waves six to eight meters in height, blackouts occurring, trees falling, and roofs of houses ripped off in many areas, according to provincial authorities.
In Phu Yen's Tuy Hoa city, power cut occurred in most of districts, a lot of trees along streets were uprooted, and electric wires above the streets dropped to the streets.
In Phu Yen, some 4,000 households with 18,000 people who live nears the sea, rivers and streams have been evacuated.
Along a section of national road No. 1 in Khanh Hoa, strong winds tore roofs of many houses away, and knocked down series of trees and pumps of filing stations, which blocked coaches and North-South trains from keeping on running.
In Khanh Hoa's Ninh Hoa town, a complete blackout occurred, and transport was paralyzed.
Before Damrey landed the central region, the four central provinces of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh and Binh Thuan and southern Ninh Thuan province planned to evacuate over 75,000 households with 386,000 people. Besides, Ho Chi Minh City has evacuated nearly 4,000 people in the island district of Can Gio.
Due to the typhoon, the national flag carriers has had to cancel eight flights, and budget carrier VietJet canceled five flights.
Military forces in central region have mobilized over 44,000 servicemen and militia people and hundreds of vehicles and boats to help local residents affected by Damrey.
Due to the typhoon's impact, it rained in Da Nang on Saturday, and moderate waves appeared along its famous My Khe beach, making it absent of swimmers or strollers.
According to the Da Nang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the municipal authorities have put forth three scenarios in which the city will have to respond to a typhoon, floods and high waves, even tsunamis to help ensure safety and security of the APEC Leaders' Week slated for Nov. 6 to Nov. 11 with the participation of some 10,000 delegates, 2,000 chief executive officers and 3,000 reporters.
Natural disasters, mostly flash floods and landslides, in Vietnam killed or left 245 local people missing in the first 10 months of this year, said the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The disasters also destroyed over 4,600 houses, and damaged crops and many infrastructure works, including roads, bridges and dykes, causing property losses of more than 36,500 billion Vietnamese dong (over 1.6 billion U.S. dollars).
