A tropical depression in the East Vietnam Sea has strengthened into a storm, internationally named Prapiroon, marking the second storm to hit the waters so far this year, according to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting.

At 1:00 pm on Sunday, the storm was centered in the waters west of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, packing sustained winds of 62-74 kph and gusts of 102 kph, the center said. 

The storm has moved northwest at a velocity of 10-15 kph toward China’s Hainan Island since then.

It is expected to hit the island on Monday with the same strength and then cross it to enter the Gulf of Tonkin on the evening of the same day.

Storm Prapiroon is expected to move to the waters between northern Vietnam’s Quang Ninh and southern China’s Guangxi Province, where it will weaken into a tropical depression.

It is likely to make landfall in the Chinese province and further downgrade into a low-pressure area.

Affected by the storm, the central area of the East Vietnam Sea, including the Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands), has experienced rough seas with powerful winds reaching up to 74 kph and squalls up to 102 kph since Sunday morning.

The waters off the south-central coast between Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan Provinces, as well as the southern area of the East Vietnam Sea, including the waters west of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago, have been hit by rough seas and winds of 49 kph, with gusts reaching up to 74 kph.

The Central Highlands and the southeastern region will have moderate to heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms, with precipitation ranging from 20 mm to 100mm on Sunday evening.

On Sunday night, the northwestern region will have scattered showers and thunderstorms with rainfall of 10-60mm.

The center has warned that whirlwinds, lightning, hail, and strong gusts are likely to occur during these rainstorms.

In addition, flash floods and landslides may occur in mountainous areas, while flooding may hit low-lying and urban areas.

The agency also forecast that the northern region and north-central Thanh Hoa Province will experience moderate to heavy rains due to the impacts of storm Prapiroon from July 22 through 25.

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