Typhoon Ragasa still at level 12, entering the Gulf of Tonkin Wedneday night

Typhoon Ragasa, which has decreased by four levels, from a "super typhoon" to level 12, is forecast to enter the Gulf of Tonkin on Wednesday night and make landfall in Quang Ninh province around Thursday noon.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) said that at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the typhoon center was in China's Guangdong province, about to pass through China's Leizhou peninsula, and about 375 km from Mong Cai in the northern Vietnam province of Quang Ninh.

The strongest wind near the typhoon center was 133 km per hour, level 12, gusting up three levels.

According to the typhoon scale, level 12 is still a very strong typhoon, with extremely large destructive power.

The typhoon is forecast to move west-northwest at a speed of about 20 km/h, and will pass China's Leizhou Peninsula into the Gulf of Tonkin on Wednesday night.

By 7 a.m. Thursday, the typhoon will be 100 km/h east of Mong Cai, with winds down to level 8-9, gusting up two levels.

The typhoon will then enter Mong Cai, moving deep into the mainland of Vietnam's northern region.

By 7 p.m. Thursday, the typhoon will weaken into a tropical depression in the Northeast. In the following hours, the tropical depression will continue to move westward, weakening into a low pressure area in the Northwest.

From Wednesday night until the end of Friday night, Vietnam's northern region and the north-central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An will have widespread rain of 150-300 mm, locally over 450 mm. Heavy rain might cause urban flooding.

From Thursday until Saturday, rivers in the northern region, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An are likely to experience floods.

In response to typhoon Ragasa, the Vietnamese Government has 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.