The direction of the typhoon. — Photo nchmf.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI — A typhoon, internationally named Wipha, developing from a tropical low-pressure system over the East Sea, is heading towards coastal northern provinces from Quảng Ninh to Nam Định on Wednesday morning.

The typhoon is forecast to make landfall at midnight of Friday. This is the third typhoon hitting the East Sea so far this year, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

The centre said at 10 am on Wednesday the typhoon was 240km northeast of the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Islands with wind speeds of 75 km per hour near its centre.

The typhoon was moving west-northwest at 15-20 km per hour. It is predicted to bring heavy downpours and rough seas for the northern part of the East Sea in the next 24 hours.

Due to the tropical low-pressure system, torrential rains hit northern mountainous provinces, including Yên Bái, Hà Giang, Sơn La, Hòa Bình, Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng between 7pm on Tuesday and 1am on Wednesday. The rainfall was about 31-59mm.

In a related development, a 33-year-old woman went missing at 1am on Wednesday after she was swept away when she was crossing Nậm Mả Stream to return to her house in Lào Cai Province’s Văn Bàn District.

Local rescuing teams found her motorbike nearly 3km from the accident’s scene at 4am on Wednesday.— VNS