Authorities in the coastal city of Da Nang and Thua Thien-Hue Province have announced a ban people going outside from Tuesday night as massive Storm Molave is approaching the mainland in central Vietnam.

The ban in Da Nang is among the measures to respond to Molave, the strongest to hit Vietnam since the beginning of this year, as per a direction recently issued by municipal chairman Huynh Duc Tho.

Accordingly, people in the beach city are requested to stay home from 8:00 pm on Tuesday until further notice from the municipal Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

All people living and working on fish farming houses, boats, and construction sites have to be evacuated to safe places from 6:00 pm on the same day.

Besides, all residents must leave landslide-prone areas. Those who do not comply with the order shall be subject to enforcement and criminal prosecution in accordance with the law.

The municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment is tasked with working with mineral mining businesses to immediately stop all exploitation activities from 2:00 pm on Tuesday and move workers away from working sites for their safety.

All officials, civil servants, public employees, and factory workers in Da Nang are also exempted from work on Wednesday, except for functional forces on duty and special cases.

In addition, the city has established three task forces led by the municipal deputy chairmen for emergency response to Storm Molave, while district-level authorities are also requested to set up local response forces.

All members of the municipal Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control are only allowed to go out to perform their duty and rescue people as ordered by authorized officials.

In the same move, central Thua Thien-Hue Province’s deputy chairman Nguyen Van Phuong said that the province will request people not to go outside from 9:00 pm on Tuesday. 

The ban, which will be applied to all local people apart from functional forces on duty, may take effect sooner, depending on Molave’s speed, Phuong added, and will last until the storm ends.

Workers at factories are requested not to swap their shifts and must stay inside safe places during this period.

The provincial chairman Phan Ngoc Tho also ordered all forces to be available and ready for every circumstance.

Tho requested grassroots authorities to take pregnant women showing signs of labor to hospitals in advance and try to avoid human loss in the storm at all costs.

Storm Molave is expected to be in the maritime area off the localities from Da Nang City to south-central Phu Yen Province by 7:00 am on Wednesday and make landfall between Da Nang and Phu Yen later the same day, before weakening into a tropical depression.

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