After sweeping the Philippines and killing at least 10 people on Wednesday morning, powerful typhoon Rammasun has entered the East Vietnam Sea, where it will go past Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago before heading for China’s Hainan Island, Vietnam’s national weather agency has said.

>> Powerful typhoon Rammasun to head for Vietnam’s Hoang Sa Islands >> Storm to enter East Sea, bringing widespread rain to Vietnam

At 10:00 am this morning, the storm was centered about 850 km east-southeast of Hoang Sa, packing sustained winds of 134-149 kph and gusts of up to 201 kph, the Vietnam National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center said. The storm is moving mainly west-northwest at a speed of 20-25 kph and is forecast to be seen 300 km east off Hoang Sa at 10:00 am on Thursday, with maximum winds of 166 kph and squalls of 202-220 kph. The storm will move between west-northwest and northwest at the same speed. At 10:00 am on Thursday, the storm will be centered in the eastern area of the southern Chinese island of Hainan, with the same strong winds. Due to the storm, the eastern area of the East Vietnam Sea is experiencing rough waters and winds of 75-102 km, which will increase to 166 kph in areas near the storm’s eye, together with gusts of up to 220 kph. As of tomorrow, July 17, the seas of Hoang Sa will also be very rough and suffer through winds of the same strength. In coping with the coming typhoon, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has urged the Ministries of Defense, and Agriculture and Rural Development to deploy plans to protect the safety of the ships of the Vietnam Coast Guard and the fisheries surveillance forces that are on duty in areas off Hoang Sa. The Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control must inform all fishing ships off Hoang Sa of the typhoon’s movements and advise them to get out of the dangerous areas soon. A total of 58,400 fishing boats with 235,000 fishermen on board in the East Vietnam Sea have been notified of the powerful storm.

These figures included 79 boats and 781 fishermen operating off Hoang Sa, the Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control reported. Meanwhile, the foreign ministry said it has sent diplomatic notes to the embassies of a number of regional countries in Hanoi, asking for help for the Vietnamese boats and people in case of a necessary situation.

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