HCMC – After it struck Bach Long Vi Island this morning, October 14, Storm Nangka started to weaken, heading toward the north-central part of Vietnam, according to the national weather center.
At 8.00 this morning, the storm, the seventh to hit the country in 2020, struck the coast from Thai Binh to Nghe An provinces, with strong winds measured at level 8, gusting at level 10.
In the next six hours, the storm was predicted to move westward at 20 kilometers per hour and weaken into a tropical depression, Phap Luat Online reported.
In the next 12 hours, the provinces from Thai Binh to Nghe An may be affected by the tropical depression, which will maintain its westward direction, heading at a rapid pace.
At 7.00 p.m. on the same day, the eye of the tropical depression will be centered in the mainland of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, with maximum winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour, gusting at level 8.
In the next 24 hours, the tropical depression is forecast to weaken into a low pressure zone in Laos.
Due to the impact of the storm, the northern and north-central localities will experience heavy rains with rainfall measuring 200-350 millimeters from now until October 16.
To minimize the impact of the storm, Haiphong City, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An issued a ban on activities in the sea on October 13.
Haiphong City evacuated 90 locals from dangerous locations on Cat Hai Island to safe areas, while Thai Binh Province evacuated over 3,000 residents from unsafe sites.
Thanh Hoa Province also immediately took action to prevent the impact of the storm, evacuating over 10,820 households, 200 meters from the beaches, while more than 12,340 households in Nghe An Province were evacuated due to the storm.
As of 11.00 p.m. on October 13, the number of deaths due to flooding in central Vietnam, exclusive of the deaths found at the Rao Trang 3 hydropower plant, had risen to 36, with 30 people swept away by floodwaters, three sailors stuck at sea and three others pronounced dead due to electric shock while tidying up after flooding.
In related news, another tropical depression, with strong winds measured at level 6, gusting at level 8, is forecast to move west-northwest at 25 kilometers per hour and enter the East Sea in the next 24 hours.
