Fishing ships anchor at a port in central Quảng Trị Province's Gio Linh District to avoid typhoon Conson. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control asked authorities of northern and central provinces to ensure fishing vessels find shelter as typhoon Conson has entered the East Sea and is forecast to strengthen.

At a virtual meeting held with representatives from the localities on Thursday, Deputy Director of the committee Trần Quang Hoài also ordered local authorities to contact the owner of each vessel to update them on the progress of the storm and guide them on preventive measures.

He also requested the Ministry of Health to provide detailed guidance because it was difficult to evacuate people in areas where social distancing measures have been applied following Government Directive No 16.

Deputy director of the National Hydrometeorological Forecast Centre Hoàng Phúc Lâm said it was necessary to closely watch the development of the storm because its progress was complicated and hard to predict.

At 11pm Thursday, it was 570km east-southeast of Hoàng Sa Islands with sustained winds of 75 to 90km per hour near the eye.

It is forecast to move north-west at a speed of 15km per hour and is expected to be 180km east-southeast of Hoàng Sa Islands at 10am Friday with winds of 90-100km per hour and gusts approaching level 12.

The storm is forecast to strengthen with wind speeds reaching 100-120km per hour and gusts approaching level 13 when it reaches the Hoàng Sa Islands on Saturday.

It is anticipated to make landfall on September 13, causing rough seas and heavy rain.

Deputy director of the Natural Disaster Prevention and Control General Department Nguyễn Văn Tiến asked the localities to keep a close watch over the development of the storm as well as rain and flash floods and guide local residents in storm prevention and control measures, particularly in ensuring safety.

Localities were asked to check residents living in areas at high risk of landslides and flash floods to have measures to evacuate them.

Ministries and agencies were required to prepare rescue forces and equipment.

By 6am Thursday, more than 71,000 fishing ships with nearly 350,000 people on board were informed of the storm and guided to find shelter.

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Committee on Thursday sent a document to central localities, including Quảng Trị, Quảng Nam, Đà Nẵng, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định and Khánh Hòa, to ask them to take measures to ensure safety for vessels from storm Conson.

The local authorities were required to calculate and call on all fishing ships operating in areas expected to be affected by the storm to move out of dangerous areas or find shelter. — VNS