Three dead as flash floods strike north Vietnam

By Viet Tuan, Hai Binh   August 31, 2018 | 05:33 am PT
Three dead as flash floods strike north Vietnam
Flash floods submerge many houses in Nghe An Province. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Binh
Flash floods and landslides have left three people dead and three others injured in north Vietnam.

A child in the northern province of Hoa Binh and two adults in nearby Son La and Yen Bai provinces have died in the aftermath of torrential rains brought by a tropical depression, according to the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

For the last three days, northern provinces including Son La, Lao Cai, Dien Bien and Hoa Binh; and the central provinces of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa have experienced heavy rainfall of more than 200 millimeters.

The prolonged downpours triggered flooding and landslides in many districts in Son La, isolating many villages and towns and paralyzing traffic for several hours from Thursday night onwards.

Authorities in the province's Mai Son District evacuated 160 households to protect them from landslides.

Several schools were inundated.

In Nghe An Province, rising water levels forced Ban Ve hydropower plant, the largest in north-central Vietnam, to discharge up to 4,200 cubic meters of water a second. It was said to be the largest release in the last eight years.

Ban Ve hydropower plant discharges water. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Binh

The Ban Ve hydropower plant discharges water. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Binh

Weather experts have warned that northern mountainous provinces could get more rainfall of between 40 and 80 millimeter over the next 24 hours. 

On Friday morning, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent an urgent document to local authorities urging them to take due steps to prevent further loss of life and minimize damage to property.

A fortnight ago, at least 10 people were killed and two listed missing  as typhoon Bebinca turned into a tropical depression while making landfall in Thanh Hoa Province on August 17.

Vietnam was struck by a record-breaking number of 16 tropical storms in 2017 that left 389 people dead or missing and injured 668 others, mostly in northern and central regions. Damrey, one of the most destructive storms last year, hit the country in November and killed at least 106 people..

 
 
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