Hanoi (VNA) – Tropical storm Sonca, the fourth to strike the East Seaand third to hit Vietnam this year, is forecast to make landfall in centralprovinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Tri on July 25 afternoon and poses a risk offloods and landslides, according to the National Centre for HydrometeorologyForecasting.

The centre said that the strongest winds near the typhoon’s centre reach 60-75kilometres per hour. In the next 24 hours, the storm will likely to move westand north-west at 15 kilometres per hour and weaken to a tropical low pressuresystem.

From July 25, coastal areas from Thanh Hoa to Quang Tri will experience wavesof up to 2-3 metres, while central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue facedownpours between 150 millimetres and 250 millimetres.

Meanwhile, the Red River Delta, north western provinces of Hoa Binh and Son Laand Central region will see moderate to heavy rain (rainfall from 50 millimetresto 150 millimetres).

Sonca will also bring rains and thunderstorms in the middle and south of the EastSea (including the Spratly archipelagos) as well as coastal areas from the southcentral province of Ninh Thuan to the southernmost province of Ca Mau. From CaMau to Kien Giang provinces and the Gulf of Thailand, there will be showers andscattered thunderstorms.

In response to the typhoon, Nghe An province has informed all vessels out onthe sea about the storm while requesting them to leave or not enter dangerousareas.

Border defence forces in Thua Thien-Hue province have worked with coastallocalities to call nearly 1,900 vessels with more than 12,000 fishermen to moveoffshore to flee the storm. Local authorities have guided citizens to protecttheir houses and construction works, store food, medicines and essential items andevacuate people and assets from unsafe places.

Quang Binh province has informed all vessels on the sea about the storm. As of6:00 am on July 25, 3,555 fishing ships with 14,139 crew members moved offshoreor found a safe shelter. There are 97 ships with 800 workers operating in theDa Nang sea area.

Last week, tropical storm Talas, the second of the season, killed at leasteight people and damaged buildings and roads across northern and centralregions. Weather forecasters have predicted a particularly stormy typhoonseason this year, with 13-15 typhoons and tropical depressions expected todevelop over the East Sea.

Last year, ten typhoons and tropical depressions developed over the East Sea,four of which hit the mainland.-VNA