Deputy PM calls for no laxity as Super Typhoon Mangkhut heads to Vietnam

Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung speaking at a conference on the preparations for Typhoon Mangkhut.

The typhoon already made landfall in the northern Philippines with winds of over 200 kilometres per hour, bringing heavy rains and causing widespread power and communications outages, according to Reuters.

Mangkhut is moving at a speed of 25 kilometres per hour and is expected to hit the Vietnamese coastal provinces on the morning of September 17, packing winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour, Vietnam’s national meteorological agency stated.

Over the next several days, the typhoon is expected to bring heavy rains to the northern and north-central regions.

At a meeting on September 14, Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung asked the local authorities to firmly call on fishing vessels to come back to shore and take shelter at harbours, reinforce aquaculture farms and evacuate those living in coastal areas to safety.

For the inland and mountainous provinces, the Deputy PM suggested evacuating residents in areas prone to severe flooding, flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains.

He also called attention to public infrastructure such as schools, power facilities and roads in order to minimise the damage.

According to Hoang Duc Cuong, Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF), Typhoon Mangkhut could cause waves to rise by 6-7 metres in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Heavy rainfall brought by the storm also increases the risk of flash floods, landslides and rockslides in Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Bac Kan, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Son La, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh./.

NDO