Vietnam puts evacuations on hold as Typhoon Cimaron heads north

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday November 2, 2006

Ho Chi Minh City- Coastal provinces in central Vietnam put plans for mass evacuations on hold as Typhoon Cimaron weakened and turned north toward China, officials said Thursday. Earlier, provinces in central Vietnam had plans to evacuate more than 150,000 people ahead of Cimaron, which blew through the Philippines earlier in the week, killing at least 19 people.

"People don't have to evacuate now, but should always stay ready to an evacuation order," said Van Phu Chinh, head of the Flood and Storm Department's office in central Vietnam.

He added that schools and offices would remain open but fishing fleets have been put on alert.

"Fishing boats are allowed to operate only in the areas below the latitude 12, south of the storm" Chinh said.

The storm's change of direction could still threaten deep-sea fishing boats further north, local newspaper Saigon Times reported Thursday, saying that 490 ships were still at sea.

The paper said several boats had moved north towards China's Hainan Island to escape the storm's projected path, but now might be caught at sea.

The boats at sea raised fears of repeat of the dozens of Vietnamese boats caught unawares by Typhoon Chanchu in May. More than 200 fishermen drowned in that storm.

Once packing winds of up to 183 kilometres per hour, Cimaron has now weakened and slowed down, moving less than 5 kilometres per hour, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorology Forecasting.

At 4 a.m. Thursday, the typhoon was 620 kilometres east of China's Hainan Island and was moving north-west.

"The possibility that the typhoon will directly affect Vietnam is only 10 per cent now," said Bui Binh Tang, director of the National Centre for Hydro-meteorology Forecasting Centre.

"It is moving very slowly now and may die in the ocean within the next two days, without hitting any country."

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency