HÀ NỘI — Torrential rains and thunderstorms are forecast to blanket Hà Nội and northern mountainous provinces for the next few days.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting on Monday also warned that provinces from Thanh Hóa to Thừa Thiên Huế were also likely to experience bad weather until Wednesday.

The agency said the rains were caused by the influence of the inter-tropical convergence zone combined with a subtropical ridge.

The centre also forecast that water levels could rise by 2-4 metres upstream the Hồng (Red) – Thái Bình river system, waters could swell by 3-7 metres in upstream rivers from Thanh Hóa to Quảng Trị.

Mountainous areas in the provinces of Hòa Bình, Sơn La, Lai Châu, Yên Bái, Quảng Ninh, Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình have been put on high alert for flash floods and landslides, with Yên Bái particularly at risk last night, the centre said.

Floods are also forecast in lowland and urban areas in the provinces of Hải Dương, Nam Định, Ninh Bình, Thái Bình, Hòa Bình and Hà Nội, as well as localities from Thanh Hóa to Quảng Trị.

According to a report on Monday by a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Nghệ An, torrential rains had already caused several roads to flood and brought traffic to a standstill.

A stretch of National Highway 7 running through Con Cuông District was blocked by a landslide triggered by the rains on Monday morning, but fortunately no casualties were reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng on Monday asked agencies and localities to ensure safety while taking measures to respond to natural disasters.

He ordered the National Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to work with agencies and localities to set up inspection teams at vulnerable areas, check the safety of reservoirs, especially old and weak constructions, protect dykes and avoid landslides at river banks and the coast.

Tropical low-pressure systems form

Northern and central provinces are facing two tropical low-pressure systems that appeared at the same time on Monday.

The first one formed at 7am near the coast of Thanh Hóa – Hà Tĩnh, the centre said.

By 4pm Monday, the eye of the system was about 100-130km off the coast of Thanh Hóa – Hà Tĩnh with winds speeds reaching 50km per hour.

The front is expected to make landfall at 4pm today, before weakening on Wednesday.

Rough seas with waves of 2-3 metres can be expected in the Tonkin Gulf.

The second tropical low-pressure system reportedly appeared near the East Sea on Monday morning.

By 1pm Monday, the eye of the system was about 180km to the northeast of the Philippines’ Luzon Island with wind speeds of up to 60km per hour.

The system is moving quickly west-northwest at 30-35km per hour, and is forecast to gain in strength and become a storm after entering the northern part of the East Sea, the centre said.

The storm is on course to make landfall by 1pm on Wednesday in north-central provinces with wind speeds of up to 75km per hour. — VNS