DANANG, Vietnam: Typhoon Noru made landfall along the central coast of Vietnam early Wednesday (Sep 28), the national forecaster said, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain as hundreds of thousands of people took refuge in shelters.

“The position of the typhoon’s centre at 4am local time on Tuesday (Sep 28) is between Danang and Quang Nam,” the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting said, adding wind speeds were between 103kph and 117kph.

In Danang, Vietnam’s third largest city, high rise buildings shook in the high winds that toppled trees and tore roofs from homes across the central region.

More than 200,000 people in Vietnam had taken refuge in shelters overnight, after forecasters predicted the storm would be one of the biggest to hit the Southeast Asian nation.

HANOI: Vietnam on Wednesday (Sep 28) downgraded Typhoon Noru to a tropical depression, but warned residents to stay on alert because of the risks from flooding and landslides caused by heavy rain, the government said.

The storm made landfall in the early hours with winds of 117kmh in the province of Quang Nam, home to the historic city of Hoi An and resort of Danang, the weather agency told state media.

“I don’t know if my roof has been torn down yet. The wind is just too strong,” Le Thi Buoi, 70, said by telephone from a shelter in the coastal community of Tam Ky.

“You can hear it’s roaring even inside this shelter,” she said.

SINGAPORE: In recent weeks, the planet has been lashed by a series of typhoons and hurricanes.

Since the end of August, the Atlantic Ocean has seen hurricanes Danielle, Earl and Fiona, with Hurricane Ian now bearing down on Florida.

At the same time, countries along the Pacific Ocean were battered by typhoons Hinnamnor, Muifa and Nanmadol before Noru made landfall.

But what is the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane? How do they get their names? And could climate change put Singapore in the path of one of these weather events?

Here is what you need to know:

TYPHOON OR HURRICANE – WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

According to the National Ocean Service of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), typhoons and hurricanes are the same thing – tropical cyclones.

“A tropical cyclone is a generic term used by meteorologists to describe a rotating, organised system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and has closed, low-level circulation,” NOAA said on its website.

The only difference between them is where they occur.

“In the North Atlantic, central North Pacific and eastern North Pacific, the term hurricane is used. The same type of disturbance in the Northwest Pacific is called a typhoon,” NOAA said.

“Meanwhile, in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the generic term tropical cyclone is used, regardless of the strength of the wind associated with the weather system.”

“We don’t have much time left. The storm is intensifying so our responses must be stronger and faster,” Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at an emergency disaster response meeting on Tuesday.

“Evacuation must been done as soon as possible with top priorities being people’s lives and assets.”

Vietnam’s aviation authority closed nine airports across the country from Tuesday, forcing hundreds of domestic and international flights to be cancelled.

Around 270,000 military personnel have been placed on standby, the government said in a statement.

The hardest-hit areas were expected to be central provinces Quang Ngai, home to the Dung Quat oil refinery, and Quang Nam, home to the World Heritage site of Hoi An, said the meteorological agency.

Quang Nam province evacuated more than 133,000 residents, the government said in a statement, while footage from state media VTV showed people fortifying their homes with bricks and sandbags.

Authorities were racing to secure the country’s coffee-growing areas north of the Central Highlands region.

In the Philippines, where the category 3 storm made landfall on Sunday night, authorities said at least eight people had died, about 74,000 were sheltering in evacuation centres, and many more were left without electricity.

Footage from a local broadcaster showed police personnel cutting up fallen trees that were blocking roads in Quezon province, and residents sorting through debris with their hands. Aid workers distributed relief goods and food in coastal communities, according to footage broadcast on DZRH’s Youtube channel.

Typhoon Noru, the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, also damaged 1.53 billion pesos (US$26 million) worth of crops, government data showed.

“There are still areas with floods,” Daniel Fernando, governor of Bulacan province north of the capital, told DZRH. Fields of rice almost ready for harvest were damaged beyond recovery, he added.

MANILA: Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos declared suspension of government work and classes for Monday (Sep 26) as a category 3 tropical storm barrelled through the main island Luzon after making landfall northeast of the capital Manila.

Nearly 8,400 people were pre-emptively evacuated from the path of Typhoon Noru, which further weakened with sustained winds of 175kmh and gusts of up to 290kmh after making landfall, the state weather agency said in its latest advisory.

Flights were cancelled, ferries halted and bus routes shut as heavy rains and strong winds toppled trees and power lines.

Marcos suspended classes and work in Luzon, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy and roughly half of the country’s 110 million population.

The energy ministry placed on high alert all energy-related facilities in typhoon-affected areas, Marcos said on Facebook.

The Philippine Stock Exchange said trading would be suspended on Monday as heavy to torrential rains drench the capital region and nearby provinces.

“Utility posts fell and homes made of light materials near coastlines were damaged,” Nelson Egargue, disaster chief of Aurora province where Noru made landfall, told DZRH radio station.

Waves whipped up by the category 3 typhoon were battering ports, photos and videos on social media showed, and low-lying areas were flooded.

“The wind is calmer now but it’s dark because we have no power supply,” Eliseo Ruzol, mayor of coastal General Nakar town adjacent to Noru’s landfall location, told DZRH.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, sees an annual average of 20 tropical storms that cause floods and landslides. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, killed 6,300 people.

Noru, which is moving westward over rice-producing provinces in Luzon, is likely to emerge over the South China Sea by early Monday.

Noru came nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

The Philippines – ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change – is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, sees an annual average of 20 tropical storms that cause floods and landslides. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, killed 6,300 people.

Noru, which is moving westward over rice-producing provinces in Luzon, is likely to emerge over the South China Sea by early Monday.

Noru came nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

The Philippines – ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change – is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.

Luzon, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy and roughly half of the country’s 110 million population, started clean-up operations as floods in the capital region had started subsiding, officials said.

Five rescue workers were killed in Bulacan province, Governor Daniel Fernando told DZMM radio station, where residents were seen wading through waist-deep waters while some were stranded on rooftops.

“Many homes were destroyed but all roads are passable and there were no landslides,” Quezon province Governor Helen Tan told DZRH radio station. The local government had started clearing fallen trees and other debris, she said.

President Marcos, who will conduct an aerial inspection later on Monday, also ordered officials to provide emergency power supply to two provinces north of the capital, Aurora and Nueva Ecija, which were left without electricity.

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Noru comes nine months after another super typhoon devastated swathes of the country, killing more than 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Ahead of the latest storm, residents in several municipalities in Quezon were evacuated from their homes, according to the provincial disaster office.

In the neighbouring province of Aurora, residents of Dingalan municipality were forced to seek shelter.

“People living near the coast have been told to evacuate. We live away from the coast so we’re staying put so far. We’re more worried about the water from the mountains,” said Rhea Tan, 54, a restaurant manager in Dingalan.

Tan said residents were securing the roofs of their houses and boats were being taken to higher ground while the weather was still calm.

“We’re even more anxious if the weather is very calm, because that’s the usual indicator of a strong typhoon before it hits land,” Tan added.

Noru is expected to weaken to a typhoon as it sweeps across central Luzon, before entering the South China Sea on Monday and heading towards Vietnam.

The weather bureau has warned of dangerous storm surges more than 3m high along the coast of Aurora and Quezon, including the Polillo islands, along with widespread flooding and landslides as the storm dumps heavy rain.

It could topple coconut and mango trees, and cause “severe losses” to rice and corn crops in the heavily agricultural region, while inundating villages.

The coast guard reported more than 2,500 people had been left stranded by ferry cancellations as vessels took shelter ahead of the storm.

Dozens of flights in and out of Manila were also cancelled.

School classes and non-essential government services have been suspended for Monday.

The Philippines – ranked among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change – is hit by an average of 20 storms every year.

MANILA: Philippine authorities started evacuating people from coastal areas on Sunday (Sep 25) and hundreds were unable to travel by sea as the main island Luzon, including Manila, braces for a category 3 typhoon that continues to strengthen, officials said.

Typhoon Noru became a super typhoon “after a period of explosive intensification”, with sustained winds increasing to 185kmh from 120 kmh on Saturday evening, the disaster agency said in an advisory.

It will continue intensifying and may make landfall on Sunday afternoon or evening with 185kmh to 205kmh of sustained winds, it said.

“I asked our mayors to comply with strict preemptive evacuations,” Helen Tan, governor of Quezon province, told DZRH radio station. Fishermen in coastal communities were barred from heading to sea, she said.

Noru, the 11th tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, will bring heavy to torrential rains over the capital region and nearby provinces on Sunday afternoon.

“Hopefully, this typhoon moves fast, although it brings strong winds,” said disaster agency spokesperson Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro. Authorities are on alert for landslides, flooding and destructive winds, he said.

The Philippine Coast Guard said more than 1,200 passengers and 28 vessels were stranded in ports south of the capital.

Noru was moving westward and likely to emerge over the South China Sea by late Sunday or early Monday.

The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands, sees an average of 20 tropical storms a year.

TOKYO: A typhoon lashed central Japan on Saturday (Sep 24) with torrential rain and fierce winds, killing two and leaving tens of thousands of households without power, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Shizuoka city, south-west of the capital Tokyo, was hit especially hard, seeing a record 417mm of precipitation since the rain started on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

Winds at the centre of Typhoon Talas were blowing at about 65kmh, with peak gusts of about 90kmh, it said.

A man in his 40s was killed in a landslide and a 29-year-old man was found dead after his car plunged into a reservoir, Kyodo reported.

Power was also cut to about 120,000 households, supplier Chubu Electric Power Grid said, adding that a landslide had knocked over two electricity pylons.

“We are expecting it may take some time to restore power due to landslides, among other factors,” the company said on its Twitter account.

Central JR restarted some of its bullet train services, which had been suspended from Friday evening because of the rain.

Although the JMA downgraded the typhoon to a extratropical cyclone on Saturday morning, it forecast further torrential rain in Shizuoka and urged caution for landslides and flooding.

Yokohama city, some 30km south of Tokyo, also issued an evacuation advisory at about noon on Saturday to about 3,000 residents.

Typhoon Nanmadol, one of the biggest storms to hit Japan in years, killed at least two people and brought ferocious winds and record rainfall to the west of the country on Monday.