Vietnam is bracing itself for the full brunt Typhoon Sarika, which has already brought torrential rains and deadly floods on Monday.

The death toll in the country rose to 31 after central parts of Vietnam suffered heavy rains triggered by the typhoon. Authorities are reportedly still searching for a person who was reported missing.

The typhoon reportedly sustained winds of 103 mph and gusts of up to 124 mph.

Sarika is expected to bring heavy rains Tuesday night and Wednesday to the northeastern part of Vietnam. Significant impacts are expected across the region.

Local authorities are being urged by the government to prepare to evacuate people in high risk areas.

Vietnam is susceptible to floods and storms, as they kill hundreds of people each year, causing a great deal of damage.

The typhoon killed two people and displaced nearly 150,000 people in the Philippines over the weekend. Sarika, leaving a destructive path thus far left over 240,000 people without power.

The northern parts of the Philippines could be expecting another typhoon hit later in the week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam is bracing for Typhoon Sarika as the death toll from flooding in the central part of the country triggered by heavy rains rose to 31.

The typhoon with sustained winds of 165 kph (103 mph) and gusts of up to 200 kph (124 mph) is moving toward northern Vietnam at 15 kilometers per hour (9 miles per hour), the national weather forecast center said Tuesday.

It warned that heavy rains are expected Tuesday night and Wednesday in the northeast of the country.

The government has urged ships and vessels to stay away from the typhoon path in the South China Sea and take shelter. It also urged local authorities to prepare to evacuate people from high-risk areas.

Sarika, named after a singing bird in Cambodia, slammed the northern Philippines on Sunday, killing two people and displacing 150,000.

In Vietnam, seven more bodies have been recovered, bringing the death toll from the flooding in central region to 31, while authorities are still searching for another person who was reported missing, disaster officials said.

The flooding triggered by heavy rains of up to 90 centimeters (3 feet) last week submerged 125,000 homes and damaged infrastructure, crops and temporarily disrupted the North-South Highway and railway links.

Vietnam is prone to floods and storms, which kill hundreds of people and cause damages of millions of dollars each year.

This story has been corrected to show that the typhoon’s name is Sarika.</s>HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam is bracing for Typhoon Sakira as the death toll from flooding in central part of the country triggered by heavy rains rose to 31.

The typhoon with sustained winds of 165 kph (103 mph) and gusts of up to 200 kph (124 mph) is moving toward northern Vietnam at 15 kilometers per hour (9 miles per hour), the national weather forecast center said Tuesday.

The government has urged ships and vessels to stay away from the typhoon path in the South China Sea and take shelter. It also urged local authorities to stand ready to evacuate people from high-risk areas.

Sarika, named after a singing bird in Cambodia, slammed northern Philippines on Sunday, killing two people and displacing 150,000.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>The visit will run from Saturday until October 26, an official of the external relations department of Vietnam's central province of Khanh Hoa, where the port is located, told Reuters.

The official, who declined to be identified because of lack of authorization to speak to the media, gave no further details.

The visit will be the first by Chinese navy ships to Cam Ranh, state-controlled news website VnExpress said, adding that 750 Chinese military personnel would participate in activities with Vietnam's navy.

The new international port is separate from Vietnam's military installations at Cam Ranh, a strategic deep water bay used by the U.S. during the Vietnam war.

Vietnam's invitation to China, although the two nations are at odds over the South China Sea, is in line with the Communist Party's stated goal of a balanced foreign policy that favors no country, even as ties with Washington are at their warmest yet.

It comes amid uncertainty over the U.S. "pivot" to Asia, and troubles with some of its historic alliances and with a new administration soon to be decided in Washington.

"This is actually quite normal, showing that Vietnam is open to all countries and does not take any particular side," said Ha Hoang Hop, a Vietnamese academic who has advised the government.

"Vietnam's diplomatic policy is to not engage with any military ally, or engage with any country, to oppose a third country," Hop said.

Vietnam, however, welcomes a U.S. role in the region when it intervenes to keep peace, stability and prosperity, a top Vietnamese general said on Monday.

The deep water bay at Cam Ranh is now home to Hanoi's fleet of modern submarines, the key plank of its deterrent strategy for the South China Sea.

Since opening early this year the international port has hosted ships from several countries including France, Japan, Singapore and the United States.
The death toll in Vietnam, from Typhoon Sarika, rises to at least 31 people.