Jebi storm enters East Sea

A tropical depression on July 31 strengthened into a storm named Jebi, becoming the fifth storm of its kind to be formed in the East Sea.

The National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre reported that at 10.00am on July 31 Jebi was about 430km southeast of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracels) archipelago, packing winds of between 75-88kmph near its centre.

In the next 24-48 hours, the storm is forecast to move north and north-west at a speed of 10-15kmph and is likely to regain strength.

It is now causing rough seas and heavy rains in the northern and central parts of the East Sea, including the Hoang Sa archipelago.

Coastal provinces and border guards have informed fishing vessels out at sea of the storm’s directions to avoid danger zones.

In late June, tropical caused great property damage when it pounded north-central coastal provinces from Nghe An to Haiphong.