Central localities asked to brace for Storm Kompasu hinh anh 1An overview of the meeting (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh on October 12 chaired an online meeting of the National Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control with six central localities on measures to respond to Storm Kompasu, the eighth entering the East Sea so far this year.

Representatives of localities that are forecast to be hit by the storm - Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue – said that they had made prompt preparations to brace for the storm, including alerting fishing vessels at sea and designing plans to respond to heavy rains and flooding in different scenarios.

Concluding the event, Deputy PM Thanh required localities to focus on giving drastic directions to minimise the storm’s impacts, thus preventing the double effects from COVID-19 and natural disasters.

Stressing the need for plans to evacuate locals in high risk areas to safer places while still ensuring pandemic prevention, he asked the localities to pay special attention to giving safe shelters and support to migrant workers on the way to their hometowns from southern localities.

Central localities asked to brace for Storm Kompasu hinh anh 2In the next 24 hours, the storm is forecast to move westwards with speed of 20-25km per hour (Photo: VNA)

Alongside, it is necessary to ensure safety of dams, dykes and reservoirs, while preparing forces and vehicles for rescuing activities.

The Deputy PM asked the National Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control to form working groups to inspect and direct activities to respond to the storm.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, on October 12 morning, Storm Kompasu entered the East Sea. At 4pm the same day, it was about 530km east-northeast of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) islands, packing winds of 90-120km per hour.

In the next 24 hours, the storm is forecast to move westwards with speed of 20-25km per hour. It will enter the southern part of the Tonkin Gulf and land in the area from Thanh Hoa to Quang Binh before weakening to a tropical depression./.

VNA