Vietnam orders mass evacuations ahead of typhoon

DANANG, Vietnam: Vietnam ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes on Tuesday as Super Typhoon Noru barreled toward the city of Danang, with forecasters predicting the storm would be one of the biggest to hit the Southeast Asian country.

Almost half of Vietnam's airports have been shut, schools and offices across several central provinces were closed and residents rushed to find shelter before the typhoon's expected arrival on Wednesday.