HÀ NỘI — A tropical depression near Luzon Island of the Philippines is predicted to strengthen into Typhoon Guchol, which will land in the East Sea (South China Sea), according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and the National Committee for Search and Rescue on Wednesday asked steering committees of natural disasters, search and rescue of coastal provinces and cities from northern Quảng Ninh Province to central Phú Yên Province to provide news about the storm to owners and captains of boats operating offshore so that they could take preventive measures against the storm.

The committees have also been asked to follow storm updates in the media and maintain contact with boat owners to respond to any case while on duty round-the-clock and provide updates on the situation to offices of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and the National Committee for Search and Rescue.

At 1pm on Wednesday, the storm centre was at 20.7 degrees north latitude, 119.9 degrees east and some 460km from Fujian Province of China to the south and southeast. The strongest wind speed at the storm centre was at level 8 (60-75km per hour).

In the next 24 hours, the storm is forecast to move northwest at the speed of 15 to 20km per hour.

At 7am on Thursday, the storm’s centre will land in the sea to the southeast of Fujian Province of China at the strongest wind speed of level 8.

The sea area to the northeast of the northern East Sea is forecast to experience rain and a thunderstorm.

On Wednesday and Thursday, floods are predicted to take place on the upper stream of the Hồng (Red), Thái Bình and Thao rivers in Việt Nam. Flash floods and landslides are forecast in the northern mountainous provinces of Lai Châu, Sơn La, Điện Biên and Lào Cai, as well as Yên Bái, Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang and Bắc Cạn. — VNS