This year’s first typhoon, whose international name is Conson, is likely to hit Vietnam’s northern coastal provinces from Quang Ninh to Haiphong on July 16-17, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasts warned. The storm is forecast to cause rough seas in the northern East Sea with waves of between 5-7 meters, the Vietnam News Agency said July 16. The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control has asked some mountainous border provinces of Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son, Cao Bang and Yen Bai to take drastic measures to prevent possible landslides and flash floods following the storm. The Ministry of Defense has instructed naval forces and border guards in conjunction with authorities of the central and northern coastal provinces to require fishing boats still at work to seek shelters and to be ready for rescue services if necessary. The country suffers nearly ten storms on average a year. Natural disasters kill 800 Vietnamese people a year and caused losses estimated to account for 1%-2% of the country’s GDP between 1996 and 2005. Conson left 22 dead and 20 injured when it swept across the Philippines on July 14.
