Hanoi schools ordered to prepare for storm Matmo

In an official dispatch issued on Friday evening, the department urged schools to closely monitor weather updates and storm warnings, while actively preparing response plans to minimize risks.

School leaders were told to adjust teaching schedules flexibly, suspend outdoor and extracurricular activities, especially in flood- or landslide-prone areas, and maintain constant communication with parents to ensure student supervision during the storm.

For semi-boarding schools, principals were asked to coordinate with families and local authorities on any necessary student travel, ensure absolute safety, and stock sufficient food and water for those staying on campus.

The department also instructed schools to review and reinforce their disaster-response plans.

Schools were told to inspect trees on campus, report and remove those at risk of falling, and relocate important equipment, furniture, books, and records to safe storage areas.

Storm Matmo’s center was located about 370 kilometers east-northeast of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Special Zone at 12:00 pm on Saturday, packing maximum sustained winds at 103-117 kph, gusting up to 150-166 kph.

Matmo, the 11th to enter the East Vietnam Sea this year, is expected to travel west-northwest at approximately 25 kph in the next three hours.

It may enter the Gulf of Tonkin on Sunday and strike northeastern Vietnamese provinces around dawn on Monday, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.