Tropical Storm Kaitak changed course from the East Sea to hit the northern parts of Vietnam with wind speeds of 118-133 kph, bringing with it torrential rainfall across the region since the night of August 17.
Since mid day yesterday, the northern parts of the Gulf of Tonkin, including Ha Long Bay, experienced rough seas and winds of 40-62 kph.
At the center of the storm, wind speeds were stronger, at about 63-87 kph, together with gusts of 103-117 kph.
After passing through Leizhou Peninsula in China, in the Gulf of Tonkin, at 10am yesterday the storm was centered at an area 390 km east-southeast of the peninsula.
By 7pm the storm was located 100km east of Mong Cai, with wind speeds of 62-88 kph and gusts of 88-117 kph.
Located roughly 650km east-southeast of Mong Cai Town in Quang Ninh Province at 10pm yesterday, the storm continued moving west-northwest at 20-25 kph with wind speeds of 118-133 kph and gusts of upto 149 kph.
The storm then continued to move west-northwest at 20-25 kph, making landfall in the northeastern mountainous provinces, including Quang Ninh and Lang Son at 7am Saturday, with wind speeds of 39-49km and gusts of upto 62 kph.
By afternoon of August 17, the coast of Quang Ninh Province and Hai Phong City experienced strong winds of upto 62 kph, while the northern provinces faced medium-to-heavy rainfall with some parts receiving heavy downpours.
From Aug 17 noon, Hanoi began to witness light rain over large areas. However, from the afternoon rain turned to be heavier. In less than an hour, measurable rainfall in many places was up to 40mm
According to preliminary statistics, in the Hanoi area at least two people killed by falling trees in Lo Duc street (Hai Ba Trung district) and Cua Bac street (Ba Dinh district).
Heavy rain has broken down many trees, blocking the road routes such as Son Tay, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Lieu Giai, Thuy Khue, Truong Chinh, Giai Phong, Nguyen Van Cu and Pham Van Dong ...The rain coincided in rush hour , making traffic chaos.
2 or 3 big trees along Nguyen Du street fell down, other two trees on Ly Thuong Kiet street also uprooted. According to preliminary statistics, there were at least 4-5 taxis and motorcycles crushed or damaged by falling trees.
A taxi band Kia Morning cab 29A of Mai Linh Taxi Company, while moving in the direction Lo Duc - Pham Dinh Ho street (Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi) was crushed by a falling tree, the driver died at the scene right in front of house No. 97 Lo Duc street.
The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue has asked concerned authorities in the region from Quang Ninh to Thua Thien-Hue provinces to prepare necessary plans to cope with the storm.
Central Steering Committee had held two emergency meetings to direct the solutions to cope with storms. As assessed at the meeting, hurricane storm number 5 was considered as a "ghost" storm, because of its intensity of complex activities since formation, which while moving continuously changed directions
All boats at sea must be well informed of the storm’s development so that they can take safety measures and avoid dangerous areas, the committee said.
The Ministry of Defense has put 20,000 soldiers, eight helicopters, 72 rescue boats, 400 vehicles and 1,000 canoes on a standby state to cope with possible incidents due to the typhoon, said Colonel Pham Van Ty, deputy head of the National Committee for Search and Rescue.
Yesterday afternoon, nine fishing boats from central Quang Ngai Province with 89 fishermen on board that were operating near the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago were unable to make it to shore in time, according to Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper reporter.
Since learning that these boats wanted to land on China’s Hainan Island to find shelter from the storm, Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry has asked the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Embassy in China to assist the boats in seeking protection shelter on the island, the official said.
According to the latest news in early in the Saturday morning ( Aug 18) , after going into the land of the northeastern provinces of Vietnam, the tropical depression weakened into a low pressure area at 21.4 degrees north; 106.3 east longitude.
Strongest winds in the center of low pressure dropped below the level 6 (less than 39 kph).
The National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center forecast in next 24 hours, the low pressure continues to move towards the West, every hour is about 20 - 25km, then weakened and dissipated.
