Tropical storm Sinlaku, which is moving at 25 kph in the East Vietnam Sea, will likely land in Phu Yen Province in south-central Vietnam on Saturday evening, the Vietnamese National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting has warned.
Upon its landfall in Phu Yen, the storm will also affect a large area from Quang Ngai to Khanh Hoa Provinces before weakening into a depression, the center said Saturday morning.
At 4:00 am today, the storm was centered 350 km east of the coast between Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa, with winds of up to 88 kph and squalls of 89-117 kph.
The storm is now moving west-northwest at 20-25 kph and at 4:00 pm Saturday it will be located off the coastal area between Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa Provinces, with winds of the same speed.
Due to Sinlaku the waters northwest of Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spartly) archipelago will experience rough seas, with wave heights of up to five meters, from Saturday morning. The area will also face winds of 62-88 kph and squalls of 89-117 kph.
From mid-day Saturday the waters of the region between the central province of Quang Nam and the south-central province of Ninh Thuan will be severely impacted by these strong winds.
The storm will directly affect Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa from 3:00 pm, said Dang Thanh Mai, deputy director of the center.
In the next 12-24 hours, the storm will move in the same direction at a speed of 20 kph and make landfall in the south-central part of the country, with the center likely to be in Phu Yen, Mai said.
Sinlaku will then move deep into the mainland and weaken into a depression, with winds of 39-49 km and squalls of up to 74 kph.
The coastal region from Quang Ngai to Khanh Hoa will have maximum winds of 74 kph and gusts of 75-102 kph.
The Da Nang-Binh Thuan region and the Central Highlands area will experience heavy rain, together with strong winds of up to 61 kph.
The Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control convened an urgent meeting on Friday afternoon with relevant agencies to discuss measures to cope with the coming storm.
The board also issued a message to its units in localities from the central city of Da Nang to the southernmost province of Ca Mau asking them to take all necessary measures in anticipation of the storm.
All vessels operating at sea should be kept well informed of the storm’s movements so that they can take safety measures in time, the board said.
The board also asked the ministries of Defense, Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development and Foreign Affairs, and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to work out precautionary plans ahead of the storm.
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Đăng ký: VietNam News