In preparation for the storm's expected landfall Thursday morning, the government is evacuating 250,000 people in the North-Central Region.

Typhoon Kompasu continues to move towards Vietnam's North-Central Coast, with current wind speeds of 120 km/h and squalls reaching 149 km/h. It will affect the Gulf of Tonkin and the waters from Quang Tri Province to Quang Ngai Province, delivering heavy rains of 100 to over 200 millimeters in Quang Tri and up to 300 millimeters in the Thanh Hoa-Quang Binh region. Strong winds are expected in the region beginning tonight.

Authorities have warned of the potential for landslides and flooding. In response, on Tuesday, the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control announced plans to relocate 65,000 families, while 54,000 ships with more than 230,000 crew members in the region were instructed to take shelter. 

The storm caused flash flooding and landslides in the Philippines on Tuesday, leaving nine people dead and 11 missing. Some 1,600 people were evacuated ahead of its arrival. Vietnam's Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center expects the storm to gain strength as it continues moving westward, but weaken upon landfall and ultimately decrease into a tropical depression as it arrives in Laos.

Vietnam has experienced eight tropical storms this year, and experts had previously predicted that five to seven more storms or tropical depressions will reach Vietnamese waters in 2021, two to four of which will directly affect the nation.

[Image by the Vietnam Disaster Monitoring System (VNDMS) via Zing]