After slamming the northern Philippines, Typhoon Kalmaegi is moving towards the waters between China’s Leizhou and Hainan Island. It will then enter the Gulf of Tonkin and head for northeastern Vietnam, the Vietnamese weather agency warned Monday.

>> Storm Kalmaegi to enter East Vietnam Sea early next week At 7 am today, September 15, the typhoon was located about 660 km east-northeast of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, packing maximum winds of 133 km and gusts of up to 183 kph, the Vietnam National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said. The powerful storm is moving west-northwest at 25-30 kph and will likely strengthen, the center warned. At 4 am on Tuesday, the typhoon will be centered about 420 km north of Hoang Sa, with winds as strong as 134-149 kph and gusts of 201 kph. Hoang Duc Cuong, the center’s director, said the typhoon will begin affecting northern Vietnam by tomorrow morning, at the latest. If the storm maintains its course, it may hit the region between Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city, with the center making landfall in Quang Ninh, on Wednesday morning, September 17. The storm will arrive with winds of 62-74 kph and gusts of up to 102 kph, the center said.  However, Vu Anh Tuan, head of the center’s short-term forecasting division, said it is still possible that the storm will impact China’s Leizhou Island, before moving onto the Chinese mainland along the Vietnam-China border area. Due to the typhoon, the eastern area of the East Vietnam Sea is experiencing rough seas and strong winds of up to 102 kph, with gusts of up to 149 kph near the storm’s eye. The storm will bring heavy rains to northern Vietnam starting this afternoon, with average rainfall amounts of 100-200 mm. Rainfall totals will be from 200-300 mm in the northeastern region. These torrential rains will likely last until September 18, the center warned.   Yesterday afternoon the Steering Board for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control met to discuss measures to cope with the coming typhoon. The board requested that all of its units in northern Vietnam, along with local authorities, keep all boats at sea well informed of the storm’s movements so that their crews can take safety measures in time.

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