The eye of storm Mindulle, the third of the year, made landfall at about 4 pm on August 24 in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, with gusts topping 117 kilometers per hour, delivering high winds and heavy rains to the central coastal provinces and causing huge losses.
Rainfall averaged between 150-330mm in Nghe An, with winds gusting to 107 kilometers an hour, according to the National Hydrometeorological Forecast Center.
The high winds uprooted many trees on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Le Hong Phong and Phan Dang Luu streets in Vinh City, and motorcyclists could barely ride in the strong winds.
Waves rose highly, overflowing into houses and shops along the coast in Cua Lo Town.
Rain falls of 300mm were recorded in Ha Tinh Province, and water levels in rivers increased rapidly.
Waves lapped fiercely and winds gusted to 62-88 kilometers an hour in the province’s coastal areas.
Nguyen Thien, deputy chairman of the province People’s Committee, said the province had asked 14,643 residents in 26 communes in coastal and river mouth areas to evacuate before the storm came.
Rainfall was between 70-150mm with the heaviest fall 343mm on Ly Son Island, Quang Ngai Province.
Quang Tri Province recorded 202mm; Quang Binh Province, 278mm; and Thua Thien-Hue Province, 181mm.
Damage
A whirlwind injured 11 people while 312 houses were unroofed in Thua Thien-Hue Province.
A whirlwind also unroofed 15 houses in Vinh Linh, Hai Lang and Con Co districts, Quang Tri Province.
Heavy rains and whirlwinds submerged 10,500 hectares of summer-autumn rice in Hai Tinh Province, 91,000 hectares of farms in Nghe An Province, 15,000 hectares of rice in Quang Binh Province, and thousands of hectares of rice in Hai Lang, Trieu Phong, Gio Linh and Vinh Linh Districts, Quang Tri Province.
Many provincial streets were flooded up to almost one meter.
Fishing boats
A fishing boat with 10 fishermen has been still missing in Da Nang Province. The engine on that boat was failed when the boat went to a safe anchorage area in the morning of August 23.
A cargo ship with 12 sailors had been in accidents on sea in Nghe An Province, and a rescue boat sank while trying to salvage the ship.
Two fishing boats sank too in the province when berthing.
A whirlwind sank and destroyed four boats in Quang Tri.
A cargo vessel with six sailors sank in Thanh Hoa Province in the afternoon of August 24, however, all the sailors were saved by fishermen.
Due to the storm, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced the cancellation of some domestic flights on August 24.
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