Vietnam experiences abnormal rainy season

In early May, localities in the southeast received the first rains of the season with higher volume than usual.

On the afternoon of May 22, a rain lasting for over two hours in Dong Nai Province caused floods of more than 1 m in many streets of its Bien Hoa City, paralyzing traffic. According to the Hydrometeorological Center of Dong Nai, the volume of rain that afternoon was recorded at 62 mm.

Then on June 4, Dong Nai received 100-120 mm of water in two hours of rain, resulting in flashfloods running down from an industrial park to a residential area next to the park, destroying houses and streets.

On June 24, several Da Lat streets flooded following a heavy rain. Several vehicles were damaged by the water. Houses in low-lying areas flooded as well. According to the Hydro-Meteorological Center of Lam Dong Province, its Da Lat station recorded 60 mm of rain from noon to 1:30 p.m.

On June 29, rain lasting for over an hour left a series of streets in Ho Chi Minh City inundated, with the volume of rain measured at 50-70 mm.

A man drives through floodwaters on Nguyen Duy Trinh Street, Thu Duc City, HCMC, May 2023. Photo VnExpress/Thanh Tung

In mid-July, a 50-meter-long section of an embankment which belonged to the construction site of a retaining wall in Da Lat City collapsed, killing two and injuring five. Insiders said the incident might have happened due to prolonged heavy rains that caused water to seep underground and destabilize the earth at the site.

In late July, despite being more than a thousand kilometers away from the impact area of storms Talim and Doksuri, southern localities still experienced prolonged heavy rains and strong winds that led to floods and landslides. As a result, five people died and two others still remain missing.

According to the National Center for Hydro - Meteorological Forecasting, the climate of the south and the Central Highlands is divided into two distinct seasons, with the rainy season starting from mid-May and ending in November and July is the peak when the southwest wind is strongest.

This year, rains have come earlier with higher volume.

So far, the amounts of rains in both the southwest and the southeast are higher than the same period last year, up between 50-130% against last year. In Soc Trang Province, the increase is as high as 247%.

In the Central Highlands, it rose by 60-70%.

Motorbikes are submerged in floodwaters in Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands after downpours in June 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Hoai Thanh

Le Dinh Quyet, an official at the Hydrometeorological Observatory's southern office, said Storm Doksuri has made the southwest monsoon stronger than normal, resulting in unusually heavy rains.

Meteorologist Nguyen Thi Xuan Lan said the southern region has been affected by the southwest blowing in the direction from the Bay of Bengal to the mainland.

Localities in the southwest are the first place to receive this type of moisture-carrying wind, so it has rained heavily.

Around the end of July, the Bay of Bengal had a tropical storm with anti-clockwise winds that pushed the southwest monsoon to blow stronger to the mainland.

During that period, storm Doksuri entered the East Sea and its impacts made the monsoon to grow even stronger.

The same reason with storm Talim in mid-July had caused heavy rains and strong wind for HCMC and neighboring provinces.

"Those storms did not enter Vietnam but they worked as the resonant elements creating heavy rains than normal for the two regions."

Nguyen Van Huan, head of the Forecasting Department at the Hydrometeorology Station of the Central Highlands, said normally when there are El Nino, the region should experience a lack of rain but this year has been different with many places recording rains of higher volume than the average levels of previous year.

In particular, the area at Bao Loc Pass in Lam Dong Province, the amount of rains in July accounted for 30% of the annual average level. On the two nights of July 29 and 30, the area received 200 mm of rains.

Hoang Van Dai, deputy director of the National Center for Hydro - Meteorological Forecasting, said heavy rains under impacts of the strong southwest monsoon will continue in the south and Central Highlands until Saturday, then more rains will come until September.

 

 

Vietnam experiences abnormal rainy season

Heavy rains bring raging floods in southern Vietnam