HANOI, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Bebinca, the fourth typhoon to hit Vietnam so far this year, is likely to make landfall in its northern region from Quang Ninh province to Nam Dinh province on Friday morning, according to the country's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting on Tuesday.
On Friday, within a radius of some 90 km from the typhoon's eye, strong winds will blow at speeds of 40-75 km per hour. From Wednesday night to Friday, Vietnam's northern region and the northern part of the central region are forecast to have heavy rain, said the center.
Vietnamese localities are maintaining close contact with captains and owners of sea-going vessels and cruise ships, keeping strict surveillance on dykes and reservoirs, and organizing evacuation of local residents in low-lying, coastal, and landslide-prone areas, according to Vietnam's National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
Natural disasters, mainly typhoons, flash floods and landslides, killed or left missing 78 people and injured 64 others, destroyed over 740 houses, damaged 18,100 other houses, and damaged 12,600 hectares of rice and other crops, causing property losses of around 1,468 billion Vietnamese dong (63.8 million U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of this year, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office.
