VietNamNet Bridge – At 7pm last night, June 23, the second storm in the East Sea made landfall in the northern port city of Hai Phong and Thai Binh province, nine hours earlier than previously forecast. A mother and child in Nghe An were swept away by floodwaters. Thousands of hectares of paddies are flooded.

The weather bulletin released at 9.30pm of the National Center for Meteorological Forecast said that at 7pm on June 23, the Bebinca storm entered the territory of Hai Phong and Thai Binh, with winds in the center up to level 8. In the next 12 hours, the storm will move at a speed of 10 km per hour and weaken into a tropical depression.

Under the influence of the storm, the provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Tri had rains of 70-120 mm. In Do Luong district of Nghe An Province, the rainfall was up to 316 mm, 354 mm in Hon Ngu (Nghe An), 319 mm in Vinh and 198 mm in Ha Tinh City.

Earlier, the National Center for Meteorological Forecast said that at 4am on June 23, the storm was about 170 km from the east coast of the northern provinces. Storms moving with speed 10 km per hour and is expected to hit Hai Phong at 4am on June 24.

In the evening of June 22, the provinces from Thanh Hoa to Quang Tri had rains of 30-60 mm. In Nghe An province, the rainfall was up to 126 to 190 mm in some places.

Landing in Hai Phong, and Thai Binh in the evening of June 24, storm Bebinca did not cause human losses but it eroded a many pieces of embankment and dikes, and damaged thousands of hectares of aquaculture lagoons. It will also cause rain throughout the northern region till the end of today, June 24.

Paddies, houses submerged by flood

Two people were swept away by flash floods in Nghe An Province. Landslides occurred in many mountain communes. In Vinh City, Nghi Loc and Con Cuong districts, residents had to temporarily leave their homes due to deep floodwaters in many streets.

Nearly 354mm of rain fell on Hon Ngu Island oi Nghe An Province. More than 8,000 hectares of rice paddies and 385 lakes and ponds used for raising aquaculture in the province were submerged.

According to the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control, nearly 20,000 vessels in central provinces moved to safety.

After making landfall, the storm was moving at around 10km per hour. It's expected to become a tropical low pressure within this morning.

About 1,800 residents of Cat Hai Town in Hai Phong were relocated last night as the storm had flooded all areas of the town, causing a power blackout. No injuries were reported.

In Quang Ninh Province, according to Nguyen Van Thanh, chairman of the Co To Island District People's Committee, more than 1,000 tourists visiting the island were taken back to the mainland before the storm could hit land.

About 500 tourists volunteered to stay back in the island despite being informed of the weather conditions. All ferry services were stopped at about 2pm on Saturday. According to Thanh, all accommodation services on the island were told to stock up with enough water and food.

Water was flowing over 50m of Quan Lan dyke in Quang Ninh. Hoang Van Thanh, deputy chairman of Van Don People's Committee, said the sea dyke system of Quan Lan was 2,000 metre long, but in some parts the height was low. The district was on high alert throughout the night to monitor the situation.

Thai Binh Province relocated people from nearly 2,300 seaside households yesterday.

Nguyen Van Bai, chairman of the Tien Hai District People's Committee, said the district had notified 2,500 workers in oyster huts near the sea to return home. All residents were forbidden from moving outside the national dyke system.

Twenty metres of dyke in Quat Lam in Giao Thuy District of Nam Dinh collapsed yesterday. Officials quickly and successfully organised repairs.

PV