About 285,000 soldiers and more than 12,500 facilities, including 13 aircraft, have been mobilized in response to powerful storm Trami that is making complicated moves in the East Vietnam Sea toward central Vietnam, the National Civil Defense Steering Committee reported on Friday.

Border guards of the provinces and cities from northern Quang Ninh Province to Binh Thuan Province in the south-central region have coordinated with local authorities and ship owners to provide storm updates for 67,000 vessels with 307,000 people aboard.

At a meeting held on Friday morning to cope with Trami, the sixth storm to hit the East Vietnam Sea this year, Vu Xuan Thanh, deputy director of the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said that Trami has been predicted to change direction to move back to sea after coming near the mainland of the central region.

The coastal area between Ha Tinh to Phu Yen in central Vietnam and the northern part of the Central Highlands region will likely have heavy rain due to the impact of the storm.

“The prime minister has issued a telegram directing the response to Trami, in which he asked for comprehensive preparations in all localities possibly affected by the storm,” Thanh stated.  

As of 1:00 pm on Friday, storm Trami was located in the eastern part of the northern area of the East Vietnam Sea, about 560 kilometers east-northeast of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, with winds of up to 102kph and gusts reaching 133kph, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The storm was moving west-northwest with a speed of 15-20kph.

Over the next 24 hours, Trami will go west at 20kph and it will be located in the waters of Hoang Sa at 1:00 pm on Saturday, with winds reaching 133kph and gusts of up to 183kph.   

The storm will then move west-southwest at 15kph and will be centered about 180km northeast of the coast between central Quang Tri and Quang Ngai Provinces at 1:00 pm on Sunday, with weaker winds of 117kph and squalls of 166kph.

Over the following 24 hours, it will move at 5-10kph and likely change its direction to southwest and then east-southeast, with further weaker winds.

It will possibly be located in the waters near the central coast at 1:00 pm on Monday.

During the next 72 hours, the storm is forecast to march mainly eastward with a speed of up to 10kph and continue weakening. 

Because of the storm, the waters in the northern East Vietnam Sea will become extremely rough.

Waves could reach up to nine meters in height, with strong winds of up to 133kph and gusts as high as 183kph, posing a significant danger to vessels at sea, likely starting from Friday evening.

The storm will also bring downpours to the region from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai, with precipitation of 300-500mm, even 700mm in some areas.

The area from Ha Tinh Province to the northern part of the Central Highlands will also have heavy rains with precipitation of up to 300mm.

The storm may have complicated developments in the coming time, the center warned, calling for relevant authorities, agencies, and people to keep themselves updated with the latest storm reports.

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