Tropical storm Noru is expected to arrive over Thailand’s north-eastern provinces of Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen at about 10pm tonight (Wednesday), bringing heavy rain to 14 provinces, according to an updated weather report from the Thai Meteorological Department.

Thanasith Iamananchai, deputy director-general of the department, said this morning that Noru is moving west, towards the Vietnam-Laos border, and was located about 200km from Khemarat district of Ubon Ratchathani this morning.

He said the storm is expected to begin weakening to a tropical depression as it enters Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen provinces.

He said, however, that several north-eastern provinces had been impacted by the storm last night, with continuous heavy rain being reported there.

He advised people living in the Chi and Mun river basins to move their valuables to higher ground, in anticipation of waterway overflows and flash floods.

The Meteorological Department has already forecast heavy to very heavy rain in most of the north-east, north and central plains, including Bangkok and surrounding provinces. The east and south will see the rain tomorrow.

Fewer provinces will see heavy rain on Friday, as the storm heads towards Myanmar.

In Ubon Ratchathani, about 42 million cubic meters of water flowed into the province’s three reservoirs, while 11 million cubic metres have discharged downstream.

The reservoir behind Sirindhorn Dam is 58% full. Huay Tham Chae is at 98% of its capacity and Nong Chang Yai is at 84%, according to the provincial administration.

Noru intensified into a typhoon when it made landfall in Vietnam’s Quang Nam province early this morning, but the Vietnamese government has already downgraded the storm to a tropical depression.

More than 200,000 people in Vietnam had taken refuge in shelters overnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but high-rise buildings in Da Nang, Vietnam’s third largest city, were reported to be shaking in the high winds, which uprooted many trees and tore roofs from buildings.

Half of Vietnam’s airports have been closed, as were schools and offices in a number of provinces.

Related story : Typhoon Noru makes landfall in Vietnam