According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, tropical storm Vam Co, the 3^rd to enter the East Sea so far this year, made landfall in Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces at about 9pm on Monday. 

After striking the mainland with wind speeds of 60 - 75kph near its centre, the storm weakened into a tropical depression and then into a low pressure system.

The storm was predicted to be not too strong, but it might cause widespread flooding in coastal areas in the central region.  Therefore, on Monday Da Nang's Steering Committees for Natural Disaster Mitigation and Control, and Search and Rescue asked local relevant agencies to take various proactive measures to prepare for the arrival of the storm.

A fishing boat being brought ashore

Yesterday morning, hundreds of fishing boats were seen anchored at the city’s Tho Quang fishing wharf.  Crew members on the vessels were quickly unloading many types of fish from their boats’ decks. 

In the afternoon, municipal People’s Committee (PC) Chairman Huynh Duc Tho and Vice Chairman Phung Tan Viet paid an inspection visit to the fishing wharf to check the relocation and anchoring of the fishing boats.  Mr Tho spoke highly of the great efforts made by the Son Tra authorities, the city’s Border Guard High Command, and local relevant agencies.

Chairman Tho (left) and Vice Chairman Viet (right) at the Tho Quang fishing wharf

Also on Monday, a total of 9 fishermen from 2 fishing vessels in danger at sea were rescued by the SAR 274 ship from the Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre No II in Da Nang.

In the first incident, Captain Phan Ngoc Lien’s vessel QB 92021 from Binh Dinh Province, with a crew of 6 onboard, was at risk of sinking due to strong winds and large waves whilst it was on way into port.  Another fishing boat, DNa 31724 with 3 crew members onboard, was adrift at sea due to an engine failure.

Yesterday afternoon, many trees along the city’s streets were uprooted even though the storm had yet to reach the mainland. 

Chairman Tho urged the city’s Urban Environment Company to take effective measures and mobilise all its employees to deal with all the consequences of the storm in order to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and beautiful, clean and green streets.