Storm-hit Vietnam braces for Typhoon Goni that killed 16 in Philippines
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Nov 2 (efe-epa).- Typhoon Goni has moved towards storm-battered Vietnam after leaving the Philippines, where at least 16 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were displaced in its wake.
The Vietnam weather office said the typhoon had weakened before it left the Philippines as it advanced in the South China Sea towards central Vietnam.
The weather office said the typhoon carried winds up to 75 km (46miles) per hour but could gain strength before its arrival on the Vietnamese coast on Thursday, the weather office said.
Meteorologists have described Goni as the strongest typhoon of the year, with wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour.
The storm lost steam as it landed in Luzon province of the Philippines with winds up to 125 km per hour and gusts blowing at a speed of 170 km per hour.
Goni, which came from the Pacific Ocean with strong winds, caused floods and landslides, mainly on the island of Luzon, where up to 1 million people were evacuated by the authorities ahead of the severest tropical storm of the year.
The island was also affected on Sunday by the tropical storm Atsani.
The Department of National Defense said the 16 deaths occurred in the Bicol region in the northeast of the Philippines.
The disaster displaced some 390,200 people in the region where floods and strong winds opened a barrage of volcanic mud from the slopes of Mayón volcano.
The Vietnamese authorities were gearing up for the arrival of the storm after a tragic month of October in the central region.
More than 160 people lost their lives, and 70 are missing in the region that was battered by a series of four consecutive storms.
The latest of them was Typhoon Molave, which caused at least 29 deaths last week, according to the Vietnamese disaster management agency.
Military rescue teams deployed in the most affected areas are working around the clock in search of the missing, many of them buried by landslides.
Natural disasters claimed 132 lives in Vietnam in 2019.
The Southeast Asian country has suffered nine major storms this year and is awaiting its 10th. EFE-EPA
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