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A tropical depression over the East Sea became a storm Monday morning and is heading for Vietnam’s central coast, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF).
The storm, know as Mindulle, is expected to make landfall on Tuesday and is likely to bring heavy rains to the whole country, NCHMF Director Bui Minh Tang said, noting that before and after the landfall, rain is also forecast.
The torrential rains are predicted to be of the same intensity as those of the fifth typhoon that hit Vietnam in 2007.
Typhoon Lekima caused rivers to burst their banks leading to heavy flooding in the central northern region of the country, according to Tang.
At least 37 people died and 24 were reported missing then.
At a meeting on Monday, Cao Duc Phat, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development was concerned that landslides and floods will hit central provinces, especially as lakes and rivers in the region have already flooded in recent heavy rains.
Also at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged localities and agencies to make evacuation plans and to put aside food and medicine in areas likely to be isolated by floods.
Mindulle is the third storm to hit the East Sea this year.
