More families evacuated from dam area in northern Vietnam

By Vo Hai August 1, 2018 | 07:58 pm PT

Hoa Binh authorities have prodded more people to move as worsening erosion threatens their houses.

Lying just 20 kilometers from Hoa Binh hydropower dam, the largest in Southeast Asia, dozens of households downstream in Ky Son District in the northern province of Hoa Binh, two hours west of Hanoi, are on the verge of toppling into the Da River due to high risks of land erosion. Nguyen Manh Sau, a local official, ascribed the landslides to heavy rains over the past 10 days.

Just 20 kilometers from the largest hydropower dam in Southeast Asia, dozens of families in downstream Ky Son District in Hoa Binh Province are on the verge of toppling into the Da River as land erosion goes from bad to worse. Nguyen Manh Sau, a local official, said the erosion was caused by torrential rains over the past 10 days.

The crack measuring 100 meters long and 20 centimeters wide appeared on the provincial road No.445. Local authorities have warned of potential erosion, which could result in houses in the 300-square-meter area sinking into the Da River at any time.

A crack measuring 100 meters long and 20 centimeters wide has appeared on a provincial road. Local authorities have warned that worsening erosion could send houses in the 300-square-meter area tumbling into the Da River at any time.

District officials blocked off the eroded area from both ends and banned all vehicles moving onto the road.

District officials have cordoned off the vulnerable area at both ends and banned all vehicles from using the road.

Several families on the road were subsided and some cracks ran up the ground. Local residents said this was the first time they had suffered from the serious landslide.

The houses of several families on the road have sunk. Locals said this was the first time they'd had suffered from such serious erosion.

Over the past two days, eight families including 24 people in total have been evacuated to safety.

Local authorities have identified 15 houses in the area as most vulnerable to collapsing. Over the past two days, eight families with 24 members deemed at high risk have been evacuated.

Police forces and local officials rushed to the site to help affected residents to pick up their valuables and other belongings and move to a new temporary shelter.

Police forces and local officials have helped affected residents to move to temporary shelters.

Earlier, local authorities had ordered a mass evacuation of hundreds of residents in high-risk areas of erosion near the Da River after five houses in Dong Tien Ward were half-swallowed by the river.

While some residents have blamed it on the Hoa Binh hydropower dam closing its flood discharge gates, causing water in the river to recede quickly, officials have said that it was a false assumption.

Nguyen Hong Son, deputy head of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, said at a news conference that recent heavy rains in the northern provinces were responsible for the riverside erosion, Vietnam News Agency reported.