MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) The Vietnamese authorities are preparing to evacuate more than 1.2 million people living in the coastal regions, as a powerful storm � Molave � is expected to make landfall in central Vietnam in the next few days, the VnExpress online newspaper reported on Monday, citing the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
The evacuations will take place in seven central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, the newspaper reported, adding that provincial authorities are ordered to stay in contact with fishermen at sea, evacuate residents to safe places and develop plans to limit the damage caused by the storm.
According to the newspaper, citing the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, as of 1 p.m. (06:00 GMT) on Monday, the storm was 560 kilometers (348 miles) east-northeast of the Southwest Cay islet in the South China Sea, with winds of 135 kilometers per hour (84 miles per hour). The storm will move to the west, gradually intensifying, and is expected to reach Vietnamese shores on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the country's National Defense Ministry called for the mobilization of more than 368,000 people, including soldiers, police officers and volunteers, to assist residents in at-risk areas.
