Vietnam braced for Typhoon Wipha on Monday as coastal provinces were placed on emergency alert and airlines canceled flights ahead of the storm’s expected landfall early Tuesday.

Typhoon Wipha has toppled trees and caused major flight disruptions in Hong Kong and at some nearby airports in China as it moved west off the country’s southern coast.

HANOI: Tropical Storm Wipha (Storm No. 3) is closing in on northern Vietnam after entering mainland southern China early on July 20, bringing heavy rains, strong winds and heightened risks of flash floods and landslides across large parts of the country.

As of the afternoon of July 21, Typhoon Wipha (Storm No. 3) has intensified to Category 10, with gusts reaching Category 12. The storm’s center was located approximately 120km from Quang Ninh, 260km from Hai Phong, 280km from Hung Yen, and 310km from Ninh Binh. The Bach Long Vi special zone reported gusts at Category 9.

Hong Kong was back in full swing on Monday despite some heavy rain, with the airport clearing about 1,000 storm-delayed flights and businesses assessing the economic damage after Typhoon Wipha triggered the first No 10 signal in two years over the weekend.

Storm No. 3, internationally known as Typhoon Wipha, passed north of China’s Leizhou Peninsula on the morning of July 21 and entered the northern Gulf of Tonkin, posing a growing threat to Vietnam’s northern and north-central coastal regions,

Macau gaming regulators ordered casinos to remain open during a weekend typhoon that triggered the highest tropical storm warning.