HA NOI — Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai issued an urgent message yesterday instructing ministries, agencies and cities to prepare for tropical storm Conson, the first for the season.

The message, sent for Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, says Conson will directly impact coastal provinces from Quang Ninh to Thanh Hoa.

It says winds will gust from 120kmph to 130kmph with tidal surges of four four to five metres with heavy rain from the northern highlands to the northern delta.

The message says the Prime Minister instructs officials in coastal provinces and cities from Quang Ninh to Quang Tri to prevent vessels from putting to sea if necessary. Evacuation and any other action that will guarantee the safety of people and infrastructure is also required.

The message asks the National Floods and Storms Prevention and Control Committee to oversee prevention and rescue and ministries, industries and localities that are in the storm's path to prepare for its arrival.

The ministries of Transport, Defence, Public Security, Agriculture and Rural Development, Culture, Sports and Tourism, Information and Communications, Industry and Trade and Natural Resources and Environment are instructed to be on the alert to take the necessary action to minimise the storm's impact.

Two National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre teams travelled from northern provinces of Quang Ninh to Hai Phong City and Nam Dinh to Thanh Hoa yesterday to oversee measures to meet the storm.

Forecast

The National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre warns that the storm will be off the coast from northern Hai Phong to central Nghe An Province today.

Its eye will be at 19.7 degrees north and 106.5 degrees east at 1pm with wind gusts of up to 117kmph.

At 7pm yesterday, the eye of the storm was 17.9 degrees north and 109.4 degrees east or about 420km south-east of provinces from Hai Phong to Nghe An.

It was travelling north-west and will directly affect provinces from Quang Ninh to Quang Binh, says the centre.

Strong winds and heavy rains are likely in coastal provinces from Quang Ninh to Thanh Hoa and northern provinces including Bac Ninh and Hoa Binh as well as Ha Noi.

The storm is expected to generate waves of between 6-8 metres and tides of between 2-4 metres.

Northern provinces, particularly those of the northern highlands, have been alerted to possible floods and landslides.

The centre says the storm is moving quickly and it has been impossible to forecast exactly where it will make landfall but rains of up to 400mm in the northern highlands.

Quang Ninh in particular has been alerted to possible floods and the collapse of coal mines.

Fishermen

The Border Guard High Command reports that it has been unable to contact 237 fishermen aboard 17 ships from central Quang Ngai Province working in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.

At least six vessels have been reported to have sunk and another five ones missing.

Border guards in coastal provinces fired signals at 28 fixed and 15 mobile points to warn ships operating offshore.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat has instructed provinces from Quang Ninh to Quang Ngai to keep updating the number of vessels receiving warning and plans to forbid not only fishing but all types of vessels from going to sea to ensure their safety.

The storm, with strong winds in couple with high tide, would threaten many inhabited zones such as Cat Hai Island District in Hai Phong with almost 4,000 residents needed to be evacuated, he said.

The storm is moving north-west and is forecast to weaken into a "low" that will effect the northern moutain provinces from Tuyen Quang to Yen Bai.

The eye of the low pressure will be 21.9 degrees north and 104.9 degrees east at 7am tomorrow.— VNS