Floods inundate homes, crops in central region

Soldier helps a resident in flooded Nha Trang City, in the central province of Khanh Hoa to safety. — VNA/VNS Photo Doan Quang Duc

HA NOI — Torrential rains brought floods and landslides to the country's central region, threatening thousands of hectares of rice fields and isolating thousands of households.

The National Hydro-Meteorology Forecast Centre warned of possible flash floods and landslides in submerged and low-lying areas in the affected areas.

Reports from Ninh Thuan Province said heavy downpours had submerged hundreds of hectares of crops, including 100ha of rice. As many as 50 households were inundated with half-a-metre of water in downstream areas. Two reportedly collapsed.

Water has been released from Don Duong Lake, Sat River, Tran River, Tan Giang and Ba Tri to protect the province's dyke and embankment system.

Flood waters have blocked several roads and many sections of National Highways No 1A and 27 have been isolated.

Provincial authorities have closed some roads to traffic to ensure safety.

They have also worked to relocate more than 950 of 3,832 households on the flood plain.

In Khanh Hoa Province, heavy rains have continued to fall to the tune of between 190 to 234 millimetres, leaving behind heavy damages.

In Cam Ranh Town, floods have submerged 30 hectares of shrimp-raising areas, causing an estimated VND12 billion (US$615,000) in losses while landslides have caused losses upwards of VND4 billion ($205,000).

Two vessels were swept out to sea. Border soldiers managed to save one but another sunk in Nha Trang.

Thirty-two houses in Nha Trang's Vinh Nguyen and Vinh Phuoc wards collapsed due to flooding and 62 households have been moved to safer ground.

The latest report from the central Phu Yen Province says that Pham Dinh Cu, 53, in Dong Hoa District is still missing.

Torrential rains have also been reported in the areas along Ban Thach and Banh Lai rivers. Many residential areas in Dong Hoa and Tay Hoa have been flooded.

Heavy downpours have also caused landslides at 1320+470km on the North-South railway route through the Ca mountain pass.

Head of Phu Yen Province's Tuy Hoa Station Tran Ky Thanh, said the landslides had blocked the tracks, leaving six trains with 1,222 passengers stranded. The province's Transport Department has assigned 12 buses to transport the passengers to Dai Lanh Station.

Phu Khanh Railway Company has mobilised hundreds of workers to fix the problem but authorities report that the area is still vulnerable to landslides. They are working to prevent further landslides.

The National Hydro-Meteorology Forecast Centre has forecast that rivers in the provinces will continue to rise.

The Central Steering Committee for Floods and Storms told localities to re-examine residential areas in low-lying areas and relocate them if necessary. It also asked the provinces to take control of flooded roads and provide instructions to road users.

Media outlets will continue to be informed of changing conditions. —VNS

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Typhoon Mindulle forecast to hit Vietnam

Senior officials have given strong warnings about the approaching typhoon Mindulle, which is predicted to bring prolonged, heavy rains before and after reaching the Vietnamese mainland, Voice of Vietnam (VOV) has reported.

At an urgent meeting in Hanoi on Monday, the National Center for Hydrometeorology Forecast warned that the typhoon could possibly hold rainfall of up to 300 or 400mm, especially in the next few days, threatening flash floods and landslides in some areas of Vietnam.

Presiding over the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked ministries and localities to recall ships and boats operating at sea and press agencies to provide timely information on the storm development.

He said provinces in the northern mountainous and north central region need to relocate people living in areas prone to flash floods or landslides.

The Deputy PM also emphasized measures to prevent flooding which might be caused by heavy rain in urban areas and asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to send working groups to Hanoi, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An.

The National Committee for Search and Rescue requested all cities, provinces and ministries contact and inform the owners of boats and vessels about Typhoon Mindulle and where to take shelter.

The High Command of Border Guards said 58,177 boats and vessels, including 20 from Quang Ngai province, have been contacted and guided back to the mainland. However, 10 ships are still out of contact.

Meanwhile, seven people were missing after a landslide buried their hillside farms in northern Vietnam, officials said Monday.

The landslide hit without warning amid sunny weather Sunday, said Vu Tien Duc, deputy party chief of the Mu Cang Chai district in the province of Yen Bai.

The victims, including two boys aged 7 and 15, were harvesting corn on terraced fields on the hillside.

"I don't think they could have survived," said Luong Tuan Anh, a storm and flood control official in Yen Bai. "How could they survive when such a huge amount of earth fell on them?"

Anh said Yen Bai had suffered heavy rains in the past month and that water absorbed in the earth might have caused the landslide.

Authorities began rescue operations late Sunday, but no victims had been found, Anh said.

Vietnam is a disaster-prone country where heavy rains and flooding kill hundreds of people every year.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, disasters have killed an average of 750 people each year for the past 10 years and caused losses of 1.5 per cent of Vietnam's gross domestic product.

State media last week reported that almost 350,000 Vietnamese households need to be relocated over the next five years from areas vulnerable to flash floods and landslides.

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Landslide deaths trigger new wet-season alarms

Prolonged heavy rain triggered a landslide that has killed three people in northern Quang Ninh province.

The deaths raised safety fears for thousands of residents in the flood and landslide-prone northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Yen Bai as the wet season approaches.

Seventeen people were killed or presumed dead after floods and landslides in Ha Giang province in the first seven months of this year. Forty-two houses were also destroyed.

The province's Xin Man, Yen Minh, Bac Quang and Quang Binh districts were particularly prone to floods and landslides, officials said.

To Thanh Lai, chairman of Yen Thanh Commune People's Committee in Quang Binh district, warned that landslides were expected at numerous locations along Highway 279.

Floods and landslides killed 238 people in Lao Cai province between 2000 and 2008, swept away 1,200 houses and destroyed more than 10,000ha of paddy fields.

Le Thanh Du, the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development deputy director, said: "Floods and landslides have occurred more frequently and been more serious in recent years," adding that thousands of residents were put at risk annually.

He blamed climate change for the unpredictable weather.

"In previous years, flash floods and landslides were often caused by prolonged heavy rain of between 200-300mm, but this year, floods and landslides have taken place in areas where the rainfall has measured just 8-10mm," he said.

"As a result, local authorities have been carrying out more checks in high-risk areas to ensure response measures are prompt. They have also relocated more than 5,000 people from areas prone to flash floods and landslides," Du said.

Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre, said it was difficult to predict exactly where and when landslides and flash-floods would take place.

"The lack of flood-forecasting technology and limited training hinder our work. Reliable warnings are based on many factors, not just on the likelihood of rain," he said.

He said that flash floods and landslides often happened after spells of drought, particularly in mountainous areas and near river mouths.

"When hearing strange noises and finding that the water level in rivers has dropped suddenly or risen dramatically, people should move to safe areas," he said.

Hai added that heavy rains were expected in northern mountainous regions in the next few days./.

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