Vietnam braces for Typhoon Haiyan

HANOI - Vietnam's central areas have braced for the Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm ever hitting the country.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday urged the authorities to do all they can to minimize human and material losses as Haiyan is forecast to make landfall in the country's central region on Sunday.

Under the instruction of the Central Committee for Storm and Flood Control, local authorities in central Vietnam have evacuated residents to safe places.

In Quang Ngai, 87,000 people in low-lying areas and areas vulnerable to landslide and flash flood were evacuated on Friday morning.

Da Nang City People' Committee decided to evacuate nearly more than 73,000 residents before Saturday night, and prohibited boats from sailing offshore.

Ha Tinh's six coastal cities and districts were ordered to evacuate 50,000 people before 05:00 pm local time (1000 GMT) Saturday.

According to the Center for Flood and Storm Control in Central Highlands, guidance has been released for nearly 39,000 fishing vessels with nearly 167,000 employees about the location, direction and track of Typhoon Haiyan to help them sail back to shore.

In a move to timely warn residents of the typhoon, Vietnamese mobile operators on Saturday sent SMS messages to subscribers.