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.

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.

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,