HANOI, 2005 Nov 2 (From AFP) - At least nine people were killed in Vietnam as typhoon Kai Tak approached the country's central coast, officials said Wednesday. "Heavy rain hit several provinces. Thousands of houses were flooded," said Nguyen Van Hung, an official from the flood and storm committee in the central city of Danang. Seven people were killed in Quang Ngai province and two in Thua Thien Hue. "The typhoon was about 250 kilometres off the coast of Quang Ngai Wednesday morning and was moving around 10-15 kilometers per hour. It is difficult to say where it will hit the country in the hours to come," Hung told AFP. In Hoi An, a seaside resort with a vast beach and a traditional village, more than 3,000 people had been evacuated. The industrial port of Danang spent a few hours on Tuesday without electricity. Most flights to Danang airport were cancelled and Chinese President Hu Jintao, expected to visit the central region, shortened his stay in Vietnam and was to leave the country early Wednesday. In Quang Nam province about 15,000 people had been displaced. Thousands of soldiers and police have been mobilised, Hung said. The region is prone to seasonal flooding and frequent typhoons that often cause widespread devastation and loss of life. Around thirty people were killed over the past two weeks by floods in the region. In September Typhoon Damrey, packing winds of 200 kilometres per hour, left at least 111 people dead including 63 in Vietnam when it swept through East Asia.

This Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) image was acquired on 30 October 2005 over Typhoon Kai Tak (middle right image) as it approached the coast of Vietnam. The image shows low clouds in blue low clouds and both high and low clouds in white. The coastlines have been highlighted in red to define their locations.

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