HÀ NỘI — The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on Friday morning asked coastal localities to prepare for a new typhoon.

Internationally named Haikui, the typhoon entered the East Sea on Friday morning.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, by 10am on Friday, the typhoon was 800km away from Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Archipelago with the highest wind speed of 75 km per hour. It is predicted to grow stronger during the next 24 hours. The typhoon is moving west-northwest at 20km per hour. At present, north central and central provinces are likely to be in the path of the typhoon.

Therefore, Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development, Nguyễn Xuân Cường, cum head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control ordered all coastal provinces to quickly inform offshore vessels about the typhoon’s developments so that they can find an anchorage.

Cường also told the localities to notify offshore vessels to stay clear of dangerous areas.

Rescue forces were asked to be ready for emergencies. Authorised agencies in the localities were told to set up teams to re-check areas with high risks of landslides and flash floods to evacuate local residents to a safe place. The agencies were also required to handle the full reservoirs filled up by the typhoon Damrey, to ensure safety of residents, he added.

In a related move, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control’s report, on Friday morning, pegged the death toll of typhoon Damrey at 100 and the number of missing people at 18.

Mountainous areas and areas near rivers in provinces from Thừa Thiên – Huế to Bình Định are still on high alert of a landslide, the centre said. — VNS