while a low-pressure area zone to the south of the Philippines is poised to develop into storm No. 8 when it enters the East Sea.

Tran Quang Hoai, deputy head of the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control speaks at the event

Information about the impending storms was unveiled during an October 12 meeting held among the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control in Hanoi in order to discuss emergency response plans to the flooding and heavy rain which has hit the central region, in addition to the upcoming tropical depressions.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 7:00 a.m. on October 12 the centre of the tropical low pressure was located approximately 550km north-east of the Hoang Sa archipelago, also known as the Paracel islands, with sustained winds reaching between 50km and 60km per hour.

Over the course of the next 24 hours, the tropical depression will move northwest at speeds of roughly 20km per hour before developing into a storm.

It is expected that by 7:00 p.m. on October 13 the storm will be at about 200km north of the Hoang Sa archipelago, with the strongest winds near its eye reaching between 60km and 90km per hour.

During discussions, Hoang Phuc Lam, deputy director of the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, revealed that developments relating to the tropical low pressure remain complicated and unpredictable. Indeed, it is likely to hit Hainan island and enter the Gulf of Tonkin before dumping heavy downpours throughout the northeast and north central regions from October 14 to October 15.

Tran Quang Hoai, deputy head of the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control, urged all localities to remain highly vigilant and make thorough preparations in an effort to minimise the impact of the impending weather patterns.

Furthermore, Hoai issued a warning to fishermen to promptly evacuate in the face of these natural disasters, while also emphasising the need to ensure tourist sites on the island are kept safe, apart from providing essential items to several locations, with the storms set to make landfall at the weekend.

With regard to recovery efforts occurring in the aftermath of Storm Linfa, the sixth storm to hit the East Sea this year, Hoai stressed the need to urgently restore traffic routes that have been damaged by the storm.

This should be done alongside other steps such as strictly monitoring the discharge of flood water at reservoirs throughout the central region, along with supporting affected central localities by offering essential necessities in a bid to help them overcome the consequences of the storm as soon as possible.

The flooding to hit central Vietnam over the past few days has largely been caused by torrential rain, with 17 people being killed and 11 more missing. VOV