HÀ NỘI — Typhoon Sơn Tinh – the third typhoon to hit the East Sea this year – is forecast to make landfall in provinces from Thái Bình to Hà Tĩnh on Wednesday night with wind speeds reaching 75km per hour.

At 7am on Wednesday, the typhoon was about 390km to the east of provinces from Thái Bình to Hà Tĩnh, and was moving west at 25-30km per hour.

Torrential rains with up to 350mm are forecast in northern delta provinces down to localities from Thanh Hóa to Quảng Bình.

The provinces of Hòa Bình, Sơn La, Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Hà Giang, Tuyên Quang, Quảng Ninh, Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Bình have been put on high alert of landslides and flash floods, the national forecasting centre said.

Lowland and urban areas in Hải Dương, Hà Nam, Nam Định, Ninh Bình, Thái Bình, Hòa Bình, Hà Nội and Vĩnh Phúc, and from Thanh Hóa to Quảng Bình, are likely to be inundated.

Urgent meeting

In response to the situation, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on Tuesday organised an urgent meeting with relevant agencies to direct preparations for the typhoon.

The meeting was chaired by Trần Quang Hoài, head of the Việt Nam Disaster Management Authority.

Speaking at the meeting, Hoài ordered border soldiers and rescue forces to ready for emergencies.

One of the most important tasks was instructing offshore vessels to seek shelter from danger areas, he said.

Hoài told the authority’s Dyke Management Department to check the sea defences to ensure residents’ safety. He added that the department should have materials on hand to repair the dykes if any incidents occurred.

Localities were also instructed to check reservoir levels in the wake of torrential rains, he said.

In a related movement, the Khe Bố Hydro-Power Plant in the central province of Nghệ An’s Tương Dương District opened its floodgates early on Wednesday to reduce water levels in its reservoir following torrential rains over the past couple of days.  — VNS