Typhoon Ragasa downgraded to level 8, to make landfall in Quang Ninh province at noon

Typhoon Ragasa is forecast to bring level 8 winds and gusts of level 9-10 to the coastal areas of Quang Ninh province and Hai Phong city. Northern Vietnam and the north-central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An will see heavy rains today (Thursday).

After a night of raging in Guangdong province and Leizhou peninsula (China), Ragasa has downgraded by four levels.

Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) said that at 7:00 a.m. today (Thursday), the typhoon center was in China's Guangdong province and about 100 km from Mong Cai in the northern province of Quang Ninh, with the strongest wind speed of 74 km/h, level 8 and gusts of level 10.

The typhoon is forecast to head west at a speed of 20 km/h today (Thursday), moving along the coast of China's Guangdong province and then down to the Gulf of Tonkin.

At noon today, the storm will enter Mong Cai with level 8 winds and gusts of three levels higher.

By 4 p.m., the typhoon would weaken into a tropical depression in the Northeast, with the strongest winds at level 6 and gusts at level 8.

By 4 a.m. tomorrow (Friday), a weakened low pressure area would be seen in the Northwest.

From now until Saturday, September 27, the rivers in northern Vietnam and the north-central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An are likely to experience floods.

Heavy rains are likely to cause flooding in low-lying areas; flash floods in small rivers and streams, and landslides on steep slopes.

In response to typhoon Ragasa, the Government issued two dispatches. Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Phong and Nghe An have banned ships from sailing and called on ships to seek shelter from the storm.