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

HÀ NỘI — Typhoon Phanfone, with winds near its eye reaching 135 km per hour, entered the East Sea on Thursday morning.

It is the eighth typhoon to hit the East Sea this year.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting warned that by 10am on Thursday, the typhoon was about 470km east of Trường Sa (Spratly) Islands’ Song Tử Tây Island.

It is slowly moving west-northwest at 10 km per hour. The typhoon has caused rough seas in the central part of the East Sea.

In a related move, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control organised an urgent meeting to direct relevant sectors and localities to prepare for the typhoon on Thursday morning. 

Deputy head of the committee’s Việt Nam Disaster Management Authority, Nguyễn Trường Sơn, ordered Border Guard Command and the Directorate of Fisheries to keep contact with offshore vessels and warned them on the typhoon’s developments so they could find safe anchorage.

Sơn also told the forecasting centre to provide constant updates on the typhoon’s developments for offshore fishermen.

Colonel Trần Văn Đình, head of the command’s Rescue Office said by 6am on Thursday, about 41,460 vessels were informed of the typhoon’s direction.

In the meantime, the directorate has ordered its units in localities to arrange staff on duty 24 hours a day and be ready for emergencies.

In another development, a cold spell has hit some localities in northern mountainous areas on Thursday morning. The temperatures dropped to 11 degrees Celsius in the area.

The cold spell, which has caused light rain for the northern region since Thursday morning, is predicted to last at least three days. — VNS