Central Vietnam braces for Typhoon Rai with evacuations, warnings

By Xuan Ngoc, Pham Linh   December 17, 2021 | 02:30 am PT
Central Vietnam braces for Typhoon Rai with evacuations, warnings
Fishermen take shelter on Spartly Island off Khanh Hoa Province, December 17, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/An Phuoc
All localities from Da Nang to Khanh Hoa on the central coast have evacuated people from vulnerable areas and asked seafaring vessels to take shelter from Typhoon Rai.

On Friday, Da Nang City and the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa asked deep sea fishing vessels in their localities not to venture out as Typhoon Rai was developing complicatedly in the East Sea. Vessels at sea were ordered to rush back to shore and find shelter.

The East Sea is internationally known as the South China Sea.

Owners of near-shore fish farms were also asked to evacuate to safety before 6 p.m. Friday. People living in dangerous areas near the sea were evacuated to safer places.

Quang Ngai Province has suspended the boat service to its Ly Son Island and island residents have been told to store food for a few days.

The Dung Quat Economic Zone and the Quang Ngai VSIP Industrial Zone in the province have been requested to take all needed measures to protect their facilities from the storm, in particular the Dung Quat Oil Refinery and the Hoa Phat Dung Quat steel factory.

Tran Huu The, Chairman of Phu Yen Province, has ordered reinforcement of dykes, embankments and reservoirs of hydropower and irrigation projects, and protective measures for construction works.

Typhoon Rai has weakened after slamming into the southern and central parts of the Philippines, with local authorities reporting one death so far, according to Reuters.

It had intensified to a Category 5 storm, the highest classification with maximum sustained winds of at least 156 miles per hour (mph), before making landfall in the southern Philippines on Thursday.

Vietnam’s National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said the storm will enter the East Sea Friday evening.

At 7 a.m. Saturday, the eye of the storm will lie 200 km east of the Philippines’ Southwest Cay Island, with its strongest wind speed predicted at 165 kph (102mph).

It will likely move in the west-northwest direction at the speed of 20 kph and by 7 a.m. Sunday, it will be 280 km away from Vietnam's central coast with strongest wind speed expected at 150 kph.

Rai will be the ninth storm to enter the East Sea this year.

 
 
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