What is happening to Vietnam’s stormy season?
After most of southern Vietnam and Saigon narrowly avoided being battered by 2017’s last storm, Typhoon Tembin, just a week ago, the region might have to face yet another storm.
Tuoi Tre reports that a few days ago, meteorological stations spotted a tropical depression broiling in the East Sea. However, as of this morning, the low pressure node has strengthened into 2018’s first storm, Typhoon Bolaven.
According to Deputy Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Le Thanh Hai, there’s a slim chance that Bolaven will careen southwestward towards Vietnam, but it’s more likely to weaken back into a low pressure region before it hits Khanh Hoa Province’s coast in central Vietnam.
The center shared that at 7am today, the storm was 210 kilometers away from the Spratly Islands, carrying strong winds and squalls of 60-75 kilometers per hour. Within the next 24 hours, the typhoon will move closer to the country at 25 kilometer per hour.
However, Saigoneers might be relieved to hear that Typhoon Bolaven will most likely weaken down considerably before it reaches mainland Vietnam.
The nation’s coastal region has had an especially rough year in 2017, when two typhoons Damrey and Doksuri devastated Vietnam’s poorest provinces, rendering many communities paralyzed.
[Photo via Newtalk]
