HÀ NỘI – The Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention yesterday sent a message to the steering committee for Natural Disaster Prevention in coastal localities from the northern Quảng Ninh Province to central Khánh Hòa province urging them to prepare for storm Tokage, the ninth storm this year in Việt Nam.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, as of 7am yesterday the tropical depression intensified into tropical storm Tokage in the central Philippines with wind speeds of up to 75km per hour, the message said.

The storm was predicted to move west-northwest at 15-20 km per hour.

As of 7am this morning, the storm was about 500km northeast of Song Tử Tây Island, an island belonging to the Trường Sa (Spratly) archipelago with 90km wind speeds.

To cope with the storm, the Central Committee asked its branch at localities and ministries to monitor the storm and notify owners of vehicles operating at sea of the storm’s position and its movements.

The dangerous zone was identified from 11.0 to 15.0 degree North Latitude and 116 degrees east. The zone could change depending on the storm’s development, the committee said.

The committee also ordered the Ministry of Industry and Trade to take measures to protect oil projects at sea.

Localities were urged to mobilise all resources to cope with the storm and minimise damage.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said due to the storm, there would be rains in provinces from Quảng Bình to Thừa Thiên-Huế with average rainfall between 30-80mm. The rainfall may be bigger in some areas in Quảng Bình like Lệ Thủy (129mm) and Kiên Giang (194mm.)

The Centre also warned that at rivers from Quảng Binh to Quảng Ngãi provinces may flood. — VNS