Super Typhoon Mangkhut to let off Vietnam lightly

By Xuan Hoa   September 17, 2018 | 01:28 am PT
Super Typhoon Mangkhut to let off Vietnam lightly
Typhoon Mangkhut sweeps away a house in the city of Laoag in northern Philippines on Saturday. Photo by AFP
Weakening en route to China’s Guangdong Province, Super Typhoon Mangkhut could trigger heavy downpours in north Vietnam.

Vietnam can breathe a sigh of relief as the massive storm, which has killed 64 people in the Philippines and two others in China, turned into a tropical depression at 10 a.m. on Monday after it made landfall on the coast of Jiangmen city, in China's Guangdong Province.

At that time, the center of the depression was around 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the Vietnam-China border with wind speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour.

The National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting said northern mountainous provinces should expect more rain from Monday, with rainfall ranging from 40 to 80 millimeters.

The mountainous provinces of Cao Bang, Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang can receive rainfall of up to 150 millimeters, the center said.

Both Vietnamese and international weather stations have predicted that the storm turned depression will directly affect the northern and northern central regions.

Mangkhut is the sixth storm to threaten Vietnamese waters this year.

After formed in the east of the Philippines, the storm intensified into a super typhoon with maximum wind speeds of 250 kilometers per hour and sustained the strength for days before slamming into the northern Philippines on Saturday with violent winds and torrential rain.

This is Mangkhut pounding southern China:

Weather forecasters in Vietnam have predicted that four to six typhoons and tropical depressions could develop off the country's east coast from now until the end of the year. Around two to three storms will make landfall in Vietnam and batter the central region, they said.

Vietnam was struck by a record-breaking number of 16 tropical storms last year that left 389 people dead or missing and injured 668 others, mostly in northern and central regions.

 
 
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