Soldiers tie up fishing vessels at Xuân Hội Fishing Port in the central province of Hà Tĩnh.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Typhoon Kompasu weakened into a tropical low-pressure system on Thursday morning before making landfall in central provinces from Thanh Hoá to Hà Tĩnh.

However, warnings of torrential rain, flash floods and landslides remain in place for the northern region as well as provinces from Thanh Hoá to Quảng Bình.

The National Centre for Meteorological Forecasting on Thursday warned that due to the tropical low-pressure system, torrential rain with rainfall of 50-150mm would hit the northern region and provinces from Thanh Hoá and Quảng Bình on Thursday.

Because of the influence of a cold spell combined with the tropical low-pressure system, torrential rain would hit the central region between Saturday and next Tuesday, the centre added.

Trần Hồng Thái, head of the Việt Nam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said: “The combination of a cold spell with a tropical low-pressure system is believed to cause a very dangerous situation after the tropical low-pressure system passes through.”

He told localities to closely monitor the situation and take prompt action if needed.

Thái ordered the Việt Nam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources to closely co-operate with the administration to issue more early warnings of landslides and flash floods. 

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Lê Công Thành told the national centre for meteorological forecasting to keep an eye on the developments of the tropical low-pressure system and strengthen international exchanges to take advantage of all data sources for forecasts.

The centre was also tasked to issue warnings on flash floods and landslides so that residents could actively prepare for them, he said.

The forecasting centre said by 10am on Thursday, the tropical low-pressure system was about 130km from Nam Định Province’s coast and 150km from Thanh Hoá Province. The highest wind speed near its eye was measured at 60km per hour.

The tropical low-pressure system was quickly moving west at 20-25km per hour. It was forecast to make landfall on provinces of Thanh Hoá and Nghệ An by 10pm on Thursday, the centre said.

The centre also warned on Thursday that the cold spell, that hit the northern region on Monday, was continuing to affect northern provinces. The cold spell caused the daily lowest temperature to drop to 18 degrees Celsius in mountainous provinces and 19-21 degrees Celsius in other provinces in the northern region.

The centre forecast that the cold spell would intensify on Saturday, causing temperatures to fall further. — VNS