Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese central and southern coastal localitieshave been instructed to take urgent measures to brace for Typhoon Usagi – theninth storm to hit the East Sea this year said to be heading to the southcentral region.

Usagi is forecast to make landfall in the night of November24 or the morning of November 25, Tran Quang Hoai, standing member of theCentral Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and headof the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority, said at a meeting on stormresponse in Hanoi on November 23.

Hoai urged localities likely to be affected by the storm topay attention to areas vulnerable to landslides and prepare to addressincidents related to sea dykes in order to ensure safety for locals.

Based on forecasts, localities should put in place plans toevacuate people from dangerous areas and coastal areas before 12:00 of November24 and ban fishing activities if necessary, he suggested, adding that theSteering Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will sendworking groups to check on storm response and measures to ensure the safe andeffective operation of reservoirs in localities during the day.

The National Committee for Disaster Response and Search andRescue must get ready for search and rescue missions when needed, heaffirmed.

According to Sen. Lt. Col. Nguyen Dinh Hung, deputy head ofthe Search and Rescue Division under the Border Guard High Command, as of 6:00am of November 23, information about the storm and guidance were provided for64,137 ships with 330,712 people on board, so that they are moving to saferareas.

At 4:00 am, the typhoon’s centre was at 10.9 degrees north latitude and 113.8degrees east longitude, about 450 km east of the coast of the south central andsouthern provinces from Ninh Thuan to Ba Ria – Vung Tau. The storm's strongestwinds were at a speed of 60 – 75 km per hour, according to the National Centrefor Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

In the next 24 hours, it is forecast to move west at 10 - 15km per hour and may gain more strength. The storm with sustained wind speeds at75 – 100 km per hour will be about 230 km east of the coast of provinces fromNinh Thuan to Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

At 4:00 am of November 25, the storm will continue moving westat 10 – 15 km per hour and make landfall in the area between coastal provincesin south central and east southern regions. It is then weakened to a tropicaldepression, the centre said.

The typhoon will cause torrential rains for south-centraland south-east provinces, it added. Localities stretching from Thua Thien – Hueto Binh Thuan provinces and in the southern Central Highlands region mightsuffer downpour with rainfall up to 300-500mm.-VNA