After slamming into the Philippines, Super Typhoon Nalgae is expected to move towards the coast of central Viet Nam, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

At 7pm yesterday, the second typhoon in a week was located 17 degrees north latitude and 115.9 degrees east longitude, about 400km east of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands.

Gales near the eye of the storm reached 103-117km per hour, which is classed as within level 11.

The storm is expected to move between West and West-northwest at a speed of between 10-15km an hour. This will place it about 120km east of the Hoang Sa Islands by 9pm today.

At 7pm tomorrow, Nalgae's position is forecast to be 270km northeast of the coast of central Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces.

The National Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control yesterday held an urgent meeting to discuss measures to cope with the typhoon. It was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.

Hai asked localities to closely control all vessels at sea and not allow fishing boats to go offshore.

Hed said ministries, agencies and localities should draw lessons from coping with the last storm, Nesat, to prepare for the worst.

The national committee also sent an urgent message to the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention, Search and Rescue units in coastal provinces and cities from Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen, asking them to inform vessels still at sea of the position and movements of the storm and guide them to shelter.

The authorities were also asked to check dykes, dams and any projects under construction - and to prepare plans for evacuating people from flood-prone areas.

Meanwhile, according to the flood and storm steering committee, Nesat either flooded or blew the roofs off more than 3,200 homes, sunk 11 boats, and destroyed more than 12,000ha of rice crops in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Yen Bai and Quang Binh provinces.

Nesat made landfall in the northern port cities of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, in the south, serious floods have claimed the lives of 10 people in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces.

A dyke along the Bac Vien canal in Tan Hong District in the southern province of Dong Thap broke yesterday. Flood flashed away 415ha of autumn-winter rice owned by more than 220 households.

VNS