HÀ NỘI — Nearly 4,000 fishing boats and the 23,000 people working on them off the coast of central and southern parts of the country were instructed to return to shore on Friday morning as Typhoon Samuel bore down.

At a meeting in Hà Nội, Standing Member of the Central Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control Trần Quang Hoài asked relevant ministries and authorities in 14 provinces in the south-central and Central Highlands to spread the urgent message issued by the Prime Minister.

The ninth typhoon of the year is forecast to hit the mainland on Saturday night/early Sunday, causing torrential rain and spreading across the whole southern region.

Localities have been told to inspect landslide-prone areas and prepare for potential incidents on dikes and sea defences, while protecting residential areas to ensure the safety and property of local people.   

The General Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control has been ordered to co-ordinate closely with localities to protect dyke systems.

The Department of Irrigation will also inform residents in the event water needs to be discharged to cope with the rainfall.

The Ministry of Transport is instructing fishing vessels to go to the nearest ports as well as providing transport advice (air, road and railway).

“Based on the forecast for the upcoming typhoon, localities need to plan to evacuate areas at high risks of landslides and flash floods close to the coast before 12am on Saturday," said Hoài.

Authorities in Bình Thuận Province stopped fishing vessels going out to sea from 4pm on Thursday, while Phú Quý Island banned them from noon Friday.

There will be no school for students in the central province of Khánh Hòa until Monday.

At 4am on Friday, the typhoon was carrying maximum wind speeds of 60-75km per hour, and moving northwest of the Trường Sa (Spratly) Archipelago, 450km east of Ninh Thuận to Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported.

In the next 24 hours, the typhoon is predicted to move southwest at 10 to 15km per hour. At 4am on Saturday, the typhoon’s eye is forecast to be about 230km east of Ninh Thuận to Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu, with wind speeds of up to 100km per hour.-- VNS