Washi headed for the Spratly Islands

This morning, the heart of Washi was only about 190km away from Truong Sa, strong at level 8. With the speed of 20-25km, moving southwest, about 7 hours later the storm will sweep through this archipelago, where there are more than 2,300 fishermen stay away.

The central hydro-meteorological center said that the storm is moving in the west-southwest direction. It is expected that after sweeping the Spratly Islands, the storm will weaken into a tropical depression.

Storm circulation combined with cold air makes the area in the middle and south of the East Sea (including the Spratly waters) have strong winds from level 6 to level 8, strong thunderstorms. Off the coast of Central and South Vietnam, north of the East Sea has a strong northeast wind of level 6.

Forecasting speed of 20-25 km per hour, southwest direction,
Typhoon Washi will sweep over the Spratly Islands. (Photo: NCHMF)

The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control said that in the Spratly Islands area this morning, 213 ships with more than 2,300 fishermen of Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Binh Dinh. In which 30 Binh Dinh ships have entered Da Nam and Song Tu Tay islands; 6 ships of Phu Yen are entering Da Tay island. The rest are moving away from storms.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a diplomatic note to embassies of the countries to propose conditions for fishermen and boats to stay in the storm and support and cure people and repair ships.

Washi is the seventh storm to enter the South China Sea. As a rule, at this time, the East Sea rarely has storms. Earlier, the storm passed the Philippines, causing a cataclysm that killed nearly 500 people.