Khiem added that around 11-13 tropical storms would affect the East Sea area by late this year, including 5-6 that would hit Vietnam directly. This was within the usual annual limits.

 Director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Mai Van Khiem

The typhoons would mainly focus on the central and southern region in the fourth quarter of the year.

Khiem noted that the average temperature between July and September would be 0.5-1.0 degree centigrade higher than the same period of last year. However, the temperature in the northern and central regions would be 0.5-1.0 degree centigrade lower on-year.

The total rainfall in the northern region in July would account for just 75-90% of the annual average level and the rate would be better between August and November.

Meanwhile, the rainfall in July from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue provinces would be 75-90% higher than the yearly average level. The situation would improve for many central localities from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue from October and December.

By the end of April, natural disasters killed and left 11 people missing in Vietnam, damaging 44,000 houses. This resulted in total losses of around VND3.1 trillion (USD134.78 million).

Last year, 113 people in Vietnam were killed or left missing because of natural disasters compared to 224 in 2018. Up to 1,300 were swept away and more than 40,000 households were damaged, causing total losses of VND7 trillion (USD304.3 million) against the figure of VND20 trillion and VND60,000 of 2018 and 2017 respectively. Dtinews

Strong storms forecasted to hit Vietnam this year

Vietnam would face up to 13 storms this year, including several major ones, said an official from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.