Storm Saudel, formed from a tropical depression near the Philippines on October 20, is expected to enter the East Sea and may head to central Vietnam, according to the latest news from the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHFM).

On October 20 afternoon, the newly-formed storm was around 220 kilometers to the east of the Philippines’ Luzon island, traveling at a maximum wind speed of 75 kilometers per hour (kph), the NCHFM said.

Path map of storm Saudel. Photo: NCHMF

Within the next 24 to 48 hours, the storm would move west-northwest at around 20-25 kph and the eye will churn in 350 kilometers from east- southeastward of Vietnam’s Paracel islands with sustained winds of 90-100 kph.

At around 1:00 pm on October 21, the storm would be about 650 km to the east-southeast of the Paracel islands, with a maximum wind speed of 90 kph.

During the next 24-48 hours, the storm would continue to move west at 15-20 kph and may intensify. At around 1:00pm on October 22, the storm would be around 280 km to the east-southeast of the Paracel islands, with a maximum wind speed of 100 kph.

By 7:00am on October 23, Saudel is forecast to move westward toward the Paracel islands with maximum winds of up to 100 kph near the center.

The latest data on Saudel's current trajectory suggests it is heading towards central Vietnam, though whether it will make landfall or even affect the region has yet to be confirmed.

Hong Kong Observatory predicted Saudel’s eye would be close to the central Vietnam coast at around 8:am on October 25. It is classified as a severe tropical storm with a maximum wind speed of 90 kph.

If Saudel does enter the East Sea, it would be the eighth storm to appear here this year. Previous storms, including Linfa and Nangka, have brought torrential rains, causing flash floods and landslides in Vietnam in the past two weeks.

At least 105 people have died and dozens still missing amid the historic flooding and mudslides in Vietnam’s central region as of October 20, according to the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

At least 178,000 homes, nearly 7,000 hectares of crops have been damaged and 700,000 farm animals killed, official data showed.