South coastal localities brace for storm Damrey
Vietnam’s central and south central localities are taking measures to cope with storm Damrey, which is forecast to make landfall from Phu Yen to Binh Thuan provinces on early November 4.
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Tran Van Tuan, chief of the secretariat of the provincial Steering Board for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue, said that as of 1pm, 2,303 out of 2,651 fishing vessels of the province returned to ports, while 347 others anchored at ports of other provinces and on Da Tay A island of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.
The board asked the coastal hydro-meteorological station to quickly contact with a ship still operating in the DK1 Platform sea area to go onshore immediately.
Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Luu Xuan Vinh sent an urgent dispatch requesting the local education sector to allow students to stay at home from November 4 till the storm goes.
Chairman of the People’s Committee of central Quang Ngai province Tran Ngoc Cang urged local authorities to ensure safety for ships and irrigational and hydropower reservoirs, and ensure food reserves.
According to a report of the provincial Border Guard Command, as of 10am of November 3, 260 fishing vessels with 3,590 fishermen aboard were still operating in the sea area to be affected by the storm.
Also on the day, the Steering Board for Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of southern Tien Giang province held an urgent meeting to take active measures to cope with storm Damrey and minimize losses.
Extra efforts have been exerted to reinforce dykes and houses in the province.
At a meeting held by the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on the morning of November 3, the committee head Nguyen Xuan Cuong, who is Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, asked relevant localities to actively deal with the storm in order to ensure safety for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week slated for November 6-11 in the central city of Da Nang.
Attention must be paid to calling upon ships to find shelters, evacuating people from fish cage farming areas and areas prone to flash floods and landslides, Cuong emphasised.
He requested the Vietnam Television, Radio the Voice of Vietnam and press agencies to increase coverage about storm developments and disseminate skills to respond to disasters to the public.
According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, a tropical depression on the East Sea had gained strength to become Typhoon Damrey on the morning of November 2.
At that time, the storm was at level 8 (of 18), however, when coming ashore, it can reach levels 10 to 13. Observatories in Hong Kong and Japan forecasted that storm Damrey can reach levels 11 to 14 (of 18), posing severe weather threats.
By 13:00 on November 3, the storm was about 350 km east off the coast of Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces, with sustained wind speed of 115-135 km per hour, causing heavy downpours from Quang Tri to Binh Thuan provinces.-
