Vietnam launches lightning alert website

Iweather.gov.vn, developed by the Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, integrate data from environmental monitoring thanks to 13 radars.

By accessing the website, people can learn which area is seeing or may see thunderstorms, as well as their durations and severity, among other data, in real-time. The system can also forecast rain levels in the next 1-6 hours and warn about flooding and erosion risks.

The system has constant monitoring data collected thanks to images received from Earth satellites, as well as weather radars and networks for rain and lightning tracking in Vietnam.

"Forecasters and authorities can learn about the formation, development and movement of clouds that may cause thunderstorms, and from that, issue warnings to people," a representative of the administration said.

From 2017 to 2022, lightning has killed 175 people, according to the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention.