Storm Kalmaegi caused many trees to fall on the road in Gia Lai. Photo: Tuyet Mai/VOV

Raging for more than five hours with winds at times reaching level 13 (134-149 km per hour), typhoon Kalmaegi left many houses collapse, roofs blown off, trees fall, and property damaged. Strong winds and heavy rains caused many roads to be flooded and traffic to be blocked.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and the Forward Command inspected the damage and directed the recovery efforts in Gia Lai at night. He requested the local authorities to mobilize the police, army, and militia to support people in cleaning up, and protecting their property, and urgently deploy plans to ensure food, drinking water, safe accommodation, and medical care.

On Thursday night, Vice Chairman of the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee Dao My directed forces to quickly clear the roads for smooth travel. As the water level of the Ky Lo river rose rapidly overnight, many areas Dak Lak were flooded more than 2 meters deep.

Localities from Da Nang to Khanh Hoa banned the sea, guiding more than 61,000 boats with 290,000 crew members to shelters. More than half a million people were evacuated and 93,000 aquatic cages were reinforced in Hue, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, and Dak Lak. Six airports in the central region have temporarily closed. The 70 km Da Nang-Quang Ngai expressway and many national roads have been blocked.

By Friday morning, typhoon Kalmaegi weakened into a tropical depression and dissipated into a low-pressure area as it moved to Laos. Heavy rains are forecast from southern Quang Tri to Dak Lak, with rainfall ranging from 100–250 mm, with the highest rainfall exceeding 300 mm. People are warned of high risk of landslides and widespread flooding until the end of Saturday.