Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường chairs the meeting yesterday in Hà Nội.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Storm Vamco entered the East Sea yesterday morning, become the 13th storm of this year, and its direction was very unpredictable.

Therefore, the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting issued three scenarios of the storm's potential impact on the country, said Mai Văn Khiêm, director of the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control at a meeting held yesterday in Hà Nội.

The first scenario, which was most likely, said the storm would affect the central region, especially provinces from Quảng Bình to Phú Yên, bringing rainfall of 100-250mm. The rainfall could reach 350mm in provinces from Quảng Trị-Quảng Ngãi between today and Sunday, he said.

The second scenario said the storm would head to the north then weaken and hit the north-central provinces, bringing rainfall of 100-200mm for the region, including the northern delta between Saturday and next Monday, he added.

The third scenario said the storm would hit provinces from Nghệ An to Thừa Thiên-Huế on Saturday, causing rainfall of 100-150mm.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường ordered agencies to drastically respond to the storm.

The agencies were told to not allow vessels to operate in dangerous areas to ensure safety for fishermen as well as make plans to ensure safety for aquaculture farms.

Localities were ordered to evacuate people living in high-risk areas of landslides and flash floods, especially localities from Quảng Bình to Phú Yên.

Both agencies and localities were told to pay attention to the safety of reservoirs, he added.

The Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control’s Office predicted yesterday that 52,427ha of aquaculture farms would be affected by the storm. Of which, Quảng Bình and Thanh Hóa provinces would suffer the most.

The centre also warned that up to 85,467ha of crops in the south-central coastal provinces and the Central Highlands would be impacted by the storm. The storm was forecast to endanger to more than 20 million poultry and 2 million cattle in the provinces. 

About 1,227km of dykes of provinces from Thanh Hóa to Ninh Thuận would be affected by the storm, the centre said.

Previously, the centre sent a message on Wednesday to direct provinces and cities from Thanh Hóa to Bình Thuận to prepare for the storm.

In response to the direction, Hà Tĩnh, Bình Định and Khánh Hòa provinces banned vessels from sailing since 2pm yesterday. — VNS