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VietNamNet Bridge – By 7pm on September 28, the Xangsane typhoon had entered the South China Sea, only 820km east-southeast of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.
The strongest speed of wind at the centre of the storm was measured at the 12th level or from 118 to 133km per hour.
The typhoon is moving west and west-northwest at an hourly speed of around 20km and is getting stronger. In the next 24 to 48 hours, the storm is forecast to continue in this direction and hit the Hoang Sa Archipelago.
Experts said that this will be a very strong typhoon which will affect a large area. They also forecast that the typhoon will directly hit central provinces of Vietnam from Quang Binh to Binh Dinh in the early morning on October 1.
Under the typhoon’s influence, provinces in the northern and central parts of the central region will have rain tomorrow night, September 30. The rainfall from September 30 to October 3 may be from 200-400mm.
Vietnam’s action
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Thursday urged ministries and agencies to take immediate measures to protect people and property from typhoon Xangsane.
At a meeting with relevant ministries and agencies in Hanoi on September 28, PM Dung also asked mass media agencies, especially Vietnam Television (VTV) and Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) to regularly give updates on the typhoon.
The Central Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control was urged to closely coordinate with functional ministries and local authorities to map out prevention options and make national relief such as lifebuoys, motorboats, food and medicine available to people.
At 2pm on September 28, Minister of Defence Phung Quang Thanh, Chairman of the National Committee for Search and Rescue, sent a message to the Steering Committees for Storm and Flood Control of the ministries of Fisheries, Transport, Defence, Public Security, Health, and those committees of central provinces from Quang Binh to Khanh Hoa.
In the message, the National Committee for Search and Rescue asked the above agencies to work with local and related agencies to instruct boats to seek shelter, to move local residents from dangerous areas and prepare necessary conditions for search and rescue activities and to deal with the consequences of the typhoon.
The Steering Committee for Storm and Flood Control of the Transport Ministry has instructed the Vietnam Maritime Agency and coastal information stations to get updated information about the storm and timely deliver it to boats operating in the sea areas threatened by the storm.
The Ministry of Health has asked central hospitals and Departments of Health of central provinces from Quang Binh to Khanh Hoa to prepare medicines and equipment to timely help typhoon victims and repair the environment after the storm.
Central region in action
By afternoon on September 28, 258 fishing boats from central Da Nang City with 860 fishermen had returned home.
Warned that Xangsane may be the strongest storm in the past ten years in the South China Sea and that it will hit central provinces of Vietnam, Da Nang authorities have urgently prepared to cope with the storm. The city plans to move over 100,000 families to safe areas.
15 fishing boats from Thua Thien – Hue Province are also on the way back after the information about the Xangsane typhoon was delivered. Chief of the provincial Committee for Flood and Storm Control Phan Thanh Hung said that the province would do its best to ensure the safety of its boats.
Ha Tinh Province currently has eight boats at sea. Five of them have radioed in that they are in Phan Thiet and will dock at Phan Thiet tomorrow to avoid the storm. The three remaining boats are in Ha Long Bay, northern Quang Ninh Province and will shelter themselves there.
Chief of the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control of Ha Tinh Province Bui Le Bac said that nearly 2,400 boats have been safely sheltered.
(Source: VNN, VNE) | 
