No sooner had they recovered after the floods earlier this month, the central provinces are coping with heavy rains, with floods already slamming into several areas, threatening Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien - Hue.
In Ha Tinh, flash floods occured in Huong Son district, leaving one dead and more than 1,500 houses flooded. Heavy rains and steep hills have triggered floods, according to Nguyen Duy Trinh, chairman of Huong Son district.
The district currently has more than 410 ha of rice and 1,200 ha of maize, which were left after the recent floods, now submerged in flood waters.
In Quang Binh, heavy rains cause by a cold wave, appeared on Thursday and Friday. In Tan Hoa commune, the area which has experienced the recent history flooding, heavy rains have raised water levels in rivers and streams by 0.5 meters.
Nguyen Ngoc Giai, director of Quang Binh Bureau of Dyke and Flood Prevention, said it is forecast water may rise to alert levels, especially in big river as Kien Giang, Gianh and Nhat Le, from now until next Wednesday.
In Quang Tri, heavy rains accompanied by strong winds on Thursday raised water levels in many rivers in mountainous districts such as Dakrong and Huong Hoa. Heavy downpours also occurred in the lowlands.
Water level on the Ben Hai River in Gia Voong is 42 cm more then the normal level. Heavy rains have been non-stop as of Friday evening.
In Thua Thien - Hue, a tornado left one dead, four students and a teacher seriously injured, and dozens of houses damaged in Ha Long village, Phong My commune.
The village is now being isolated, and only boats can travel there. The village’s population is mainly ethnic minorities, with 83 households of about 300 people.
"The roof of my house was blown up, and dozens of kilograms of stored rice are now totally wet," Ho Thi Dao, a Pa Hy ethnic woman, said in tears.
The tornado killed Tran Ngoc Me, an 80-year-old resident whose house was completely collapsed.
In Quang Binh, the Ho Chi Minh City Road section that goes through the districts of Tuyen Hoa, Quang Ninh and Le Thuy was severely eroded.
The road that goes through Truong Son commune was half eroded, causing traffic jams. According to the 483 Limited Company, which is repairing damaged roads, there are more than 98 landslide-affected spots in the 45-km road section that goes through the two districts of Quang Ninh and Le Thuy.
Another section of the Ho Chi Minh Road is badly eroded in A Dot - A Tep, the area from A Luoi district of Thua Thien - Hue province to Tay Giang district of Quang Nam province.
A storm is approaching the East Sea
On Friday, international meteorological forecast centers warned that a powerful storm called Megi which formed on the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean is approaching the East Sea.
Typhoon Megi was moving west-northwest at 17 kilometers per hour and is forecast to reach Luzon, the Philippines’ most populous island, within four days.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds were blowing at 167 kph and may strengthen to 250 kph as it approaches the northern part of Luzon, the centers said.
That would make it a Category 5 storm, the strongest, on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale and capable of “catastrophic damage,” according to the US National Hurricane Center.
Waves in the vicinity of the storm’s eye were 6.7 meters (22 feet) high.
Megi is the name of a catfish in South Korea and is related to the feeling of getting wet, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which lists names assigned to storms in the northwest Pacific.
According to the Central Hydrometeorology Forecast Center, heavy rains occurred over the last two days in the central provinces from Nghe An to Quang Nam, with the average rainfall of 100-150mm, and 150-200mm in the provinces from Ha Tinh to Quang Nam.
Currently the waters in Kien Giang, Vu Gia, and Gianh rivers are on alarming levels.
It is forecast flood waters in Quang Binh and Thua Thien - Hue rivers may rise to alert level 3; in Ha Tinh, Quang Tri and Quang Nam alert level 2; and in Ca River in Nghe An alert level 1.
At least 48 people have died, 1 8 are missing and 19 have been injured in floods brought by torrential rains starting last week in the central provinces, the Central Flood Control Committee reported Thursday.
