115,000 readied for evacuation as flooding, landslide risks loom

At a Thursday meeting with the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Hoang Phuc Lam, deputy director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said storm Mulan, which has devolved into a tropical depression, would cause rains of up to 150 mm in several provinces in the next two days.

In northern Vietnam and the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An could see rainfall of up to 200 mm.

Mountainous regions in northwestern and north-central areas should be wary of flash floods and landslides, local reports have cited weather experts as saying.

Several localities in the northern mountainous region and Nghe An in the north central have determined areas vulnerable to floods and land erosion and found around 114,895 people living there.

Plans to evacuate them are now in place to be carried out depending on the situation, according to the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Nguyen Dinh Hung, head of the rescue department of border guard forces in the region, said several units were cooperating with local authorities in calling for vessels at sea to get out of dangerous areas and take shelter.

Border guard forces are also cooperating with local authorities to have over 7,000 vessels with over 14,000 crew members to dock safely in ports from Quang Ninh to Nam Dinh, he said.

After entering the Gulf of Tonkin Wednesday night, storm Mulan weakened into a tropical depression, but it is still causing heavy rains in northern and north-central Vietnam.

Several Vietnamese carriers delayed flights to and from Hai Phong Thursday morning because of the rough weather conditions.

Mulan is the second storm in Vietnamese waters this year. The first, Chaba, arrived in July.

Weather experts have said that Vietnam should expect 10-12 storms and low-pressure areas in the East Sea this year, with around half making landfall.