1 mln students stay home as Storm Noru approaches

Da Nang Education Department has required 275,000 students from kindergartens to high schools to stay home starting Monday afternoon.

Authorities in the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Tri and Quang Ngai have requested more than 804,000 students to stay home from Tuesday morning.

Schools have been ordered to reinforce their facilities and remove their equipment to safety prior to Tuesday noon.

Storm Noru, one of the strongest storms in 20 years to hit Vietnam, entered the East Sea early Monday and is setting course for Da Nang and its neighbors.

The storm was 650 kilometers from Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago at 10 a.m. Monday, fueled by winds of 118-133 kph.

In the next 24 hours, the storm will move west at a speed of 20-25 kph, and by 10 a.m. on Monday, lie to the southeast of the Paracel archipelago with wind speed in its center between 134 and 149 kph.

At a Sunday meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, central provinces from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan said they were ready to evacuate over 860,000 residents to safe areas.

Noru is the fourth storm to enter the East Sea – known as the South China Sea internationally – this year and is likely to be the strongest so far.

It passed through the Philippines on Sunday night and five rescue workers have been confirmed dead in Bulacan Province.