A tropical depression in the East Vietnam Sea developed into a storm on Tuesday night and is forecast to bring torrential rain to northern and north-central provinces over the next couple of days.
Tropical Storm Mun, the second to hit Vietnam this year, had been located about 220 kilometers southeast of Bach Long Vi Island off the northern city of Hai Phong by 7:00 am on Wednesday, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.
Average wind speed was between 60km and 75km per hour, while gusts reached up to 117km an hour.
The storm is expected to travel northwest in the next 24 hours and will hit the coast between the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh as of 7:00 am on Thursday.
It is forecast to make landfall in the next 24 to 36 hours before weakening into a tropical depression.
Average rainfall of 100 to 200 millimeters per 24 hours, accompanied by strong gusts and thunderstorms, will be brought to northern localities, including Hanoi, from Wednesday evening to Friday morning.
Downpours are forecast to dampen provinces in north-central Vietnam on Wednesday and Thursday.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, who is also deputy head of the steering committee for national disaster prevention, chairs a meeting on July 3, 2019. Photo: Xuan Long/ Tuoi Tre |
In the central city of Da Nang, heavy rain is in the forecast on Wednesday but it will start to diminish on Thursday.
Rough seas and strong waves will also occur near the Gulf of Tonkin and the northern section of the East Vietnam Sea due to the effect of the tropical storm.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, who is also deputy head of the steering committee for national disaster prevention, chaired a meeting on Wednesday morning to carry out preparation for the weather phenomenon.
Although the storm is not too strong, local authorities need to remain highly alert, Cuong asserted.
All boats in the affected areas have been advised to take shelter, while more than 1,640 tourists on Co To Island off Quang Ninh Province will be brought back to the mainland soon.
This year’s first storm, named Pabuk, battered southern Vietnam in early January, with average wind speed at around 60km to 90km per hour.
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