Vietnam Suffers Damage in Tropical Storm Mirinae due to Weak Forecast

Tropical storm Mirinae which swept through northern Vietnam between July 27 and July 29 has left big losses, including seven deaths and missing, financial damage worth VND3.5 trillion ($157 million). Pham Dinh Nghi, chairman of Nam Dinh People’s Committee, said that the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) could not predict accurately Beaufort scale that left Nam Dinh the hardest-hit locality with VND2.35 trillion worth of damage. Thai Binh province, meanwhile, was affected by wind of force 12 (64 knots or 118 km/h and above), much higher than the force 9-10 forecast by the national center, according to state-run Tien Phong newspaper. Many parts of Thai Binh was submerged due to rains of 200 mm-300 mm. Pham Van Duc, former deputy head of NCHMF, said that the agency should have mentioned more about wind velocity because gusts would cause severe damage if it swept a locality for a while. Tropical storm Mirinae or the storm No.1 caused power outages in on the wide scale covering the entire Nam Dinh province and leaving many parts of Thai Binh, Ninh Binh, Ha Nam, Quang Ninh, and Haiphong paralyzed due to power cuts. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has warned the forecasting agency of weak capacity. Le Thanh Hai, deputy general director of the national center, said that the agency has learned from experience and would improve its forecasting capacity. He said that the government approved a project costing VND1.36 trillion on upgrading forecasting capacity for 2010-2012 but the project has yet been complete due to financial shortage. Vietnam normally suffers between eight and ten tropical storms per year. (Tien Phong Aug 2)