Deadly typhoon Wutip makes landfall near Dong Hoi, Vietnam
Typhoon Wutip blew ashore over central Vietnam at around 09:00 UTC on September 30, 2013 forcing thousands of evacuations. Prior to landfall Wutip sank at least two Chinese fishing boats near the Paracel Islands, leaving 75 fishermen missing, officials said.
Vietnam's national weather center said Wutip had weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm by the time it made landfall when it was packing sustained winds of 117 kilometers (73 miles) per hour. Wutip caused additional flooding, blown the roofs off of more than 1 000 houses and made other structural damage.
Vietnamese officials are planned to evacuate more than 140 000 people.
At 09:00 UTC Wutip's center was near 17.6 north and 106.8 east, or 101 nautical miles north of Da Nang, (near Dong Hoi, Vietnam) as it began making landfall. Wutip was moving to the west-northwest near 10 knots/18.5 km/h/11.5 mph, and had maximum sustained winds near 90 knots/103.6 mph/166.7 km/h. Rainfall will stretch from China to Cambodia.
Wutip is expected to move west over Laos and Thailand, where it could compound ongoing flooding.
Typhoon Wutip – warning graphic on September 30, 2013. Image credit: JTWC
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of the storm at 03:35 UTC (10:35 a.m. local time), several hours before landfall. At the time, Wutip was a Category 2 storm with winds of 90 knots/170 km/h/100 mph. Its eye was 16 km (10 miles).
The image was taken by the MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite on September 30 at 03:35 UTC. Wutip was approaching landfall in Vietnam. Image Credit: NASA MODIS Rapid Response Team
Wutip's heavy rains are expected to cause flooding and landslides as it moves over Vietnam's central highlands and mountainous region. After landfall, Wutip is expected to dissipate over land in Vietnam and Laos within the next day or so because of the friction it will encounter from the rough terrain. Wutip is the tenth and strongest storm so far to impact Vietnam this year.
Featured image credit: NASA Terra/MODIS
Commenting rules and guidelines
We value the thoughts and opinions of our readers and welcome healthy discussions on our website. In order to maintain a respectful and positive community, we ask that all commenters follow these rules:
We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these rules. By commenting on our website, you agree to abide by these guidelines. Thank you for helping to create a positive and welcoming environment for all.