HANOI (Reuters) - Thousands were evacuated, flights canceled and fishing boats told to seek shelter on Saturday as Typhoon Xangsane whipped toward the Vietnam coast after killing at least 61 people in the Philippines.
Typhoon Xangsane, which means "elephant" in the Lao language, was forecast to hit along the 1,000-km (600-mile) coast of central Vietnam late on Saturday or early on Sunday with torrential rains that could cause flooding and landslides.
Vietnam Television reported more than 200,000 people in four central provinces had been evacuated in the biggest such operation in three decades.
"The wind is getting stronger and stronger here, we expect the storm to make landfall late tonight or very early tomorrow morning," said an official of the flood and storm prevention committee in the central city of Danang.
"We have closed the airport and completed the evacuation of all people living in vulnerable areas." State-run VTV showed footage of residents in Quang Nam province using sandbags and digging tunnels to hide from the storm.
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http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-30T153656Z_01_HAN15855_RTRUKOC_0_US-WEATHER-VIETNAM.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C2_worldNews-7
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