HCM CITY — More than 6,000 residents in HCM City’s Cần Giờ and Nhà Bè districts have been evacuated to safe areas as the city braces for the ninth typhoon of the year.

Torrential rains of up to 250mm along with thunderstorms and strong winds are forecast to hit the area in Saturday night.

The typhoon is also expected to cause serious flooding to large parts of the city.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường on Saturday morning ordered the city authorities to review households living in unsafe areas to conduct further evacuation and ask the residents to reinforce their houses to prevent damages.

He said the city should take measures to ensure safety for major structures and safely operate Dầu Tiếng Reservoir to prevent damages to reservoirs in the city and low-lying areas of Sài Gòn River.

The local authorities have instructed farmers in Cần Giờ District to ensure safety for more than 6,000 ha of aquaculture areas to minimise the possible damages.

According to Lê Minh Dũng, chairman of Cần Giờ District’s People’s Committee, all fishing vessels have docked at safe places on Saturday morning. Rice, noodles, clean water has been prepared. Schools all over the city are close since 12am on Saturday.

At a meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on Saturday morning, deputy head of Natural Disaster Prevention and Control Department under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Trường Sơn asked possibly-affected localities in the south central and southern region to complete preparation for the typhoon before 4pm on Saturday.

Authorities should prepare for further flash floods, landslides and damage to dykes.

The Irrigation Department has been tasked with supervising operation of reservoirs to ensure safety of the low-lying areas.

Fishing boats have been banned from going out to sea in Bình Thuận, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu, Tiền Giang, Bến Tre, Trà Vinh provinces and HCM City.

According to National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, at 10am on Saturday, the typhoon was about 100km from Phú Quý Island of south central province of Bình Thuận Province with the gust power at the storm eye reaching 75 to 100 km per hour.

It is predicted to move towards the west and hit coastal areas from south central Ninh Thuận to Mekong Delta Province of Bến Tre by 10pm on Saturday.

When it enters the mainland of Ninh Thuận to Bến Tre provinces at 10am on Sunday morning, it will weaken and become a tropical depression with gust power lowering to 40-50 km per hour.

Rain is forecast in the south central and southern localities.

Water level of Cửu Long (Mekong) and Sài Gòn rivers will rise to the highest on Saturday and Sunday, causing serious widespread flooding. — VNS