At 06.00am November 14, Vamco was located 370km off the Da Nang coast, packing winds of between 135 and 165kph with a gust of nearly 200kph.

In the next 12 to 24 hours, Vamco is expected to move west and north-west at a speed of 20kph and to be downgraded a little before making landfall along central coastal provinces from Quang Binh to Quang Ngai early on November 15.

The typhoon will cause rough seas and heavy rain in the central region as of the afternoon on November 14. The area will experience heavy downpours with common rainfall of 250 mm or even more than 350 mm in several places.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said Vamco, the 13th of its kind hitting the East Sea this year, is a “powerful and dangerous” storm which is likely to devastate a large area from Quang Binh to Quang Ngai provinces.

“It would cause huge damage if we are not well prepared,” warned MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong.  

The Prime Minister issued a telegram, advising local residents to stay indoors during the height of the storm to avoid injury. He asked localities to be affected to evacuate people from low-lying areas and reinforce residents’ houses and public works to mitigate the consequences of the storm.

Hoang Phuc Lam, deputy director of the National Center for Hydro-meteorology Forecasting, warned fishermen absolutely not to set sail or move into Vamco-affected areas.

Vamco is the ninth storm that has hit the central region of Vietnam over more than a month. It has left more than 40 people dead when it swept through the Philippines three days ago.

Residents advised to stay indoors as typhoon Vamco hits

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has warned people in the central region to stay indoors during the height of typhoon Vamco.

In a telegram dated November 12, the PM noted Vamco is a powerful storm that is moving very quickly towards the central coast of Vietnam. 

The PM requested relevant ministries, agencies and localities to keep a close watch and put forces on standby to deal with the typhoon.

He especially asked localities from Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen to direct boats still fishing at sea to cruise ashore, and evacuate people from flood and landslide prone areas such as low-lying, coastal areas and estuaries to higher grounds.

Relevant forces were required to reinforce resident houses and public works such as offices, schools, as well as warehouses, production workshops in order to limit risks and damage caused by the typhoon.

At 04.00am November 13, Vamco was located 450km east and south-east of the Hoang Sa archipelago, packing winds of between 115 and 135kph.

In the next 24 hours, the typhoon is forecast to move north at speeds of 15-20kph and make landfall along coastal provinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue.

It will bring heavy rain to coastal provinces and may cause flashfloods and landslides in mountainous areas.

Vamco is the 13th storm that has hit the East Sea this year.

160,000 residents to be evacuated due to incoming Typhoon Vamco

Local authorities in Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri provinces are planning to evacuate more than 160,000 residents due to Typhoon Vamco. 

Among the evacuees are a total of 65,890 people from Thua Thien-Hue province who are set to move to higher ground as a means of guarding against the impact of the impending typhoon. Evacuation efforts are set to be completed before 10 a.m. on November 14.

The local administration is also required to postpone any unnecessary meetings in order to primarily focus on coping with the impact of Typhoon Vamco, the 13th storm hitting the East Sea this year. 

Simultaneously, the administration of Quang Tri held an urgent meeting on November 13 in which they gave a detailed plan of evacuation efforts to residents in order to avoid possible devastation, flooding, and landslides to be caused by Vamco.

Providing that the 13th storm of the year doesn’t make direct landfall, then only 18,000 local people will be evacuated, although this number will rise to approximately 94,000 if Typhoon Vamco does make direct impact.

Quang Tri’s authorities are also devising plans to help move between 26,000 and 50,000 people in order to protect them from potential flooding.

Furthermore, roughly 7,800 people in areas that are at risk of landslides are set to seek safety.

Quang Tri also banned fishing boats from setting sail from 2 p.m. on November 13.

On the same day, the authorities of Da Nang called on fishing boats to travel ashore or to nearby storm shelters. Indeed, activities at sea were banned as of 3 p.m. on November 13.

Typhoon Vamco is forecast to make landfall along coastal provinces from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue on November 14.

The weather event will bring heavy rain to coastal provinces and may cause flashfloods and landslides throughout mountainous areas. VOV