The meeting was connected via video conference to administrations of eight provinces and city, 88 district-level localities, and 1,155 communes and wards in the central and Central Highlands regions predicted to be affected by the storm.
PM Chinh said Noru, the fourth storm to appear in the East Sea this year, is heading towards the central region, noting that he issued an official dispatch on September 25 to urge response to the typhoon.
Apart from strong winds, the typhoon will bring heavy rains along, so it is also important to cope with post-storm landslides and floods, he added.
The Government leader demanded localities step up calling on fishermen and vessels to seek shelters; ensure safety for aquaculture farms, people’s livelihoods, students, and tourists; and protect heritage sites, infrastructure, and economic facilities to minimise damage.
At 4am on September 27, Noru had its eye in the southeast of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and sustained winds of up to 150 - 166km per hour, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.
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The predicted path of Typhoon Noru (Source: VNA)
It is predicted to move mainly westwards in the next 12 hours, at a speed of 20 -25km per hour, and continue to intensify. At 4pm on September 27, its centre is about 300km to the east of Da Nang, 250km from Quang Nam, and 240km from Quang Ngai. The strongest winds at that time are likely to reach about 150 - 183km per hour.
In the following 12 - 24 hours, the typhoon will continue moving mainly westwards at some 20 - 25km per hour. Its centre will be on the waters near the coast of the provinces from Quang Tri to Binh Binh at 4am on September 28, when the strongest winds will be around 150 - 166km per hour.
In the next 24 - 48 hours, Noru will keep moving in the same direction at some 20km per hour, roll into the central part of the central region, and abate into a tropical depression and then a low-pressure area in Thailand. The low-pressure area’s strongest winds will slow down to less than 39km per hour.
To deal with the coming storm, the director of the aviation authority for the central region has decided to temporarily shut airports in this region.
Accordingly, the airports of Da Nang (Da Nang city), Phu Bai (Thua Thien-Hue province), Pleiku (Gia Lai province), and Phu Cat (Binh Dinh province) will be suspended from 12 noon on September 27 to 11:59am on September 28. Chu Lai airport in Quang Nam province will be closed from 7am on September 27 to 6:59am on September 28.
Therefore, flights to and from those airports during the time will be delayed.
Others to and from the airports of Vinh (Nghe An province), Dong Hoi (Quang Binh province), Tuy Hoa (Phu Yen province), Lien Khuong (Lam Dong province), and Buon Ma Thuot (Dak Lak province) will also be rescheduled.
Meanwhile, the Hanoi Railway Transport JSC also said it will suspend the Thong Nhat passenger trains that depart on September 27, namely SE5 from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and SE6 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, to avoid the typhoon’s impacts.
