According to Quang Binh Provincial Border Guard Station, 7,313 boats and 18,979 crew operate in local waters. By 10 am on September 9, over 590 ships and 2,128 crew were still at sea.
Concerned agencies have been asked to closely follow the storm, provide updated information to local fishermen, and direct them to seek shelter to ensure their safety.
Yagi is forecast to move west and northwest at 15kph and regain further strength before moving into the Gulf of Tonkin on September 6-7.
Dr Nguyen Ngoc Huy, a climate change and disaster warning expert, said Yagi is expected to rapidly intensify into a typhoon category on September 4 and a super typhoon category on September 5 before pounding the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island in China.
Meanwhile, Vu Anh Tuan, an Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting official, said the centre had developed two scenarios indicating that Yagi would directly impact Vietnamese waters.
“This is a very powerful storm. Besides strong gusts, it will generate 7-9 metres high tidal surges, directly affecting ships at sea. It could even sink large vessels,” warned Tuan.
When the typhoon makes landfall, its circulation will be extensive, impacting northern and central localities. It will bring heavy rain to the northern region, and the heavy rain area will expand to localities from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue. Heavy rainfall could cause flash floods, landslides in mountainous areas, and flooding in urban areas.
