Vietnam starts mass evacuations, shuts airports as Typhoon Kajiki approaches

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People bringing a boat ashore as Typhoon Kajiki neared in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam, on Aug 24.

PHOTO: EPA

HANOI - Vietnam has shut down airports, closed schools and initiated mass evacuations as it prepares for the most powerful storm so far in 2025.

Typhoon Kajiki was packing winds of up to 166kmh as it approached Vietnam’s central coast and was forecast to grow stronger before making landfall on the afternoon of Aug 25, the country’s weather agency said.

“This is an extremely dangerous fast-moving storm,” the government said in a statement on Aug 24, warning that Kajiki would bring heavy rain, flooding and landslides.

The storm was 150km off the central coast as at midnight GMT (8am Singapore time),the weather agency said. The eye of the storm is forecast to hit an area between Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces around 9am GMT.

With a long coastline facing the South China Sea, Vietnam is prone to storms that are often deadly and trigger dangerous flooding and mudslides.

The Vietnamese government said Kajiki was expected to be as powerful as Typhoon Yagi, which battered the country less than a year ago, killing about 300 people and causing US$3.3 billion (S$4.2 billion) in property damage.

The authorities said on Aug 24 that more than half a million people would be evacuated and ordered boats to stay ashore.

Two airports in Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces have been shut down, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have cancelled dozens of flights to and from the