A tropical depression passed the Philippines into the East Sea on November 8 afternoon, and is likely to intensify into a storm as it makes its way towards Vietnam’s southcentral provinces, according to the National Centre of Hydro-meteorological and Forecasting (NCHF).

The low pressure is anticipated to move in the west direction at speeds of 25-30 kph on tonight and tomorrow morning and is likely to strengthen into a storm.

At 1:00 a.m on November 9, the tropical depression will strengthen into a storm, with the strongest winds of 83- 93 kph.

At around 1 p.m November 9, the storm center will be located about 170 km from Song Tu island with its strongest wind force near its centre reaching 75 kph, gusting to 8 category.

The imminent storm is travelling swiftly, moving close to the provinces from Phu Yen to Ninh Thuan just after two days. From November 9- 12, the weather pattern will bring heavy rain to the central and south central regions, while the Central Highlands will be affected by the circulation of the storm. Areas forecast to have heavy rain, have suffered floods in recent times, thus bringing a high risk of flash floods in the coming time, forecasters said.

In October alone, Vietnam's central region were hit by four storms, coupled with a low pressure area, a tropical depression, and two severe floods.

According to the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the two floods claimed 138 lives, left 16 others missing, and material damage was estimated at about VND 15,500 billion. Notably, typhoon Molave, the ninth of the year, killed 40 people, and left 43 missing and 140 injured, with estimated material damage at VND12,530 billion.