Tropical storm Sarika is expected to unleash its wrath on Vietnam’s northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on Wednesday, after ravaging the Chinese island of Hainan on Tuesday.

At 4 am on Wednesday, Sarika sat at 20.4 degrees latitude north and 108.4 degrees longitude east in the Gulf of Tonkin, with maximum sustained winds of 93 kph, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF).

Heading northwest at 10-15 kph, the tempest is anticipated to make landfall at Quang Ninh at 4 pm, with rough seas and high winds registering a 10 on the Beaufort scale expected in northeastern coastal areas, east of Lang Son Province, and north-central towns and cities.

The storm is also forecast to bring downpours until Wednesday evening while sending 200-300 millimeters of rain in total to Quang Ninh, Hai Phong City, and Lang Son.

It’s likely to be downgraded to a depression at 4 am on Thursday while moving north-northwestwards toward the Chinese province of Guangxi, with winds of 46 kph, the NCHMF predicted.

Quang Ninh braces for disaster

On Tuesday, Quang Ninh Province’s Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue Agency had over 8,000 ships and boats anchored, 1,100 fish farms fixed and recalled offshore residents to shelter onshore for safety reasons.

Authorities in Van Don and Co To Districts have directed local tourist operators to ensure the safety of 15 tourists, seven of whom are foreigners.

About 12,000 hectares of rice has been harvested early to prevent it from being ruined by the weather, the provincial disaster prevention department also said.

Flights cancelled

Many domestic flights into Quang Ninh’s capital city of Hai Phong have been cancelled due to the impending impact of Sarika.

Vietnamese flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) announced on Tuesday that for safety reasons it had cancelled 14 flights from taking off and touching down in the city’s Cat Bi International Airport on Wednesday.

VNA said that it will provide affected passengers with alternative flights free of charge from and to Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on Wednesday.

The airline is currently studying the climatic event in order to reschedule flights and is slated to update all relevant information over the next few days.

No-frills carrier Vietjet Air has also halted three flights from Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Da Nang International Airport to Cat Bi International Airport on Wednesday.

Seven Vietjet flights from and to Cat Bi Airport were also switched to Noi Bai Airport.

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