VietNamNet Bridge - Tropical storm Nock-Ten is forecast to make landfall over the central coastal region between Thai Binh and Ha Tinh provinces at 7pm today, with wind gusts of up to 102kph.
The National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Centre said the storm was moving at 20kph.

Heavy downpours and rough sea were forecast in the areas from northern Hai Phong City to central Ha Tinh Province. Ha Noi and other northern provinces would also experience heavy rains.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged coastal areas from the northern province of Thai Binh to the central province of Thua Thien-Hue to ban all vessels from leaving ports.

Hai, who chaired an urgent meeting yesterday, required localities to tightly control the operation of vessels at sea and provide regular updates regarding the storm's direction to fishermen.

Hai asked localities along coastal areas to instruct all boat owners and fishing boats near the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands and the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf to move south to avoid danger.

More than 36,090 boats had been informed of the storm. About 24 were operating in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands and 178 in the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

These localities were also required to implement preventive measures, including cutting down high tree branches and consolidating houses and public facilities such as schools and hospitals in storm-prone areas.

Hai also requested the Flood and Storm Prevention and Control Committees in Hai Phong, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces, which were likely to be hit by the tropical storm, the third this year, to get ready to evacuate local residents in coastal and low-lying areas.

People should be banned from staying in aquaculture breeding zones or on boats in anchorage areas, he said.

Hai also asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement measures to protect crops and dyke systems and avoid flooding in big cities.

Hai Phong City would be one of the first affected by Storm Nock-Ten today. Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Duong Anh Dien said the city had mobilised 31,740 people to consolidate the dyke systems and for rescue work.

The city also planned to evacuate residents in Cat Hai, Do Son and Kien Thuy districts four hours before the arrival of the storm. Fishermen in Bach Long Vy Islands were informed to move back to the mainland, Dien said.

Pham Tan, a representative of the central Quang Nam Province's Flood and Storm Prevention and Control Steering Committee, said all of the 543 vessels, including 81 fishing boats, had managed to find shelter.

The centre had prepared three vessels and two canoes for rescue work, Tan said. Two groups had been sent to check the situation in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces.

Source: VNS