The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control holds online meeting to brace for Conson tropical storm. (Photo: VOV)

Provinces and cities were asked to evacuate people to safe places in case of strong storm and heavy rain, floods, and landslides while ensuring COVID-19 prevention measures.

It’s important to protect human lives and assets, including aquaculture farms on islands and coastal areas, the committee said.

The National Steering Committee asked mountainous provinces to check unsafe houses and residential areas near river banks, springs, and high-risk places for floods and landslides in order to quickly evacuate people to safety.

Colonel Pham Hai Chau, Deputy Head of the Office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Response, Search, and Rescue, said: “More than 500,000 military servicemen and militias have been mobilized to cope with the storm. Localities have to count the number of ships and inform fishermen of storm development while ensuring safety for coastal and island people.”

Conson is moving north-west into the East Sea, packing winds of between 75-90kph near its eye, reported the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting on Wednesday morning.

The storm is forecast to retain its direction toward the northern and central coast of Vietnam and likely to gain strength further, with winds gusting up to 120kph near its centre.