Thousands of houses damaged by floods

The heavy rains and floods over the past two days have left one person missing, flooded more than 1,600 houses in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces , and damaged thousands of hectares of rice and other crops.

The tropical depression, after entering Thua Thien Hue, weakened and moved into Laos early on September 26th, but its circulation successively caused rain in Quang Binh , Ha Tinh, Nghe An, and Thanh Hoa provinces. According to meteorological statistics, from 8 PM on September 26th to 8 PM today, Chau Binh 2 (Nghe An) received 390 mm of rain, Son Kim 3 (Ha Tinh) 140 mm, and Yen My (Thanh Hoa) 240 mm.

As the epicenter of the heavy rainfall, Nghe An province recorded over 1,600 flooded houses, 830 isolated houses; 40 roads and 76 bridges were submerged in floodwaters. The damage was concentrated in 8 midland and mountainous districts: Quy Chau, Que Phong, Thanh Chuong, Nam Dan, Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Nghia Dan, and Ky Son.

In the mountainous district of Quỳ Châu alone, more than 1,100 households were flooded to a depth of 0.5-2 meters. In Tân Lạc town, only the roof tiles of many houses were visible. "The flood rose quickly, reaching its highest point between 5-6 am this morning. Fortunately, people managed to evacuate in time, so there were no casualties, only property damage due to water flooding into houses, as people didn't have time to move their belongings to higher ground," said Mr. Nguyễn Trường Thành, Head of the Irrigation Department of Nghệ An province.

Residents of Quy Chau district move their belongings to avoid flooding on the morning of September 27. Photo: Hung Le — Residents of Quy Chau district move their belongings to avoid flooding on the morning of September 27. Photo: *Hung Le*

Thanh Hoa also experienced heavy rain. The rapidly rising water swept away Mr. Cao Ngoc Truong from Binh Luong commune, Nhu Xuan district, who was fishing on the Han River. After many hours, his relatives and authorities have still not found any trace of the victim.

Authorities have not yet recorded flooding in residential areas, but nearly 900 hectares of rice paddies and over 500 hectares of other crops in Ha Trung, Cam Thuy, Nhu Thanh, and Vinh Loc districts have been submerged. The Am River is rising, posing a risk of isolating nearly 40 households with 135 people in Chieng Trai neighborhood, Lang Chanh town. The Lang Chanh District People's Committee has drawn up plans to evacuate people and property in case of a worst-case scenario.

According to the Department of Transport, National Highway 15C, the section passing through Phu Xuan commune, Quan Hoa district, and National Highway 217, passing through Quan Son district, experienced landslides on the embankment, causing traffic congestion. In addition, 15 low-lying areas on provincial roads and inter-district/commune roads in several districts such as Thuong Xuan, Nhu Xuan, Thach Thanh, Lang Chanh, etc., were flooded.

In Thach Thanh district, four points along the Buoi River are experiencing severe erosion, threatening the lives of 10 households in Thach Dinh commune. Local authorities have deployed personnel to be on standby to respond to any unusual incidents.

Authorities are clearing a landslide on National Highway 15C in Quan Hoa district. Photo: Lam Son — Authorities are clearing a landslide on National Highway 15C in Quan Hoa district. Photo: *Lam Son*

The rain is subsiding, and the floodwaters are receding.

By this evening, the rain had stopped in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh provinces, causing the floodwaters to recede quickly. In Quy Chau district, floodwaters have receded by 0.5-0.7 meters depending on the location. "In the next 1-2 days, when the rain stops, the flooding situation in the area will end," said the head of the Irrigation Department of Nghe An province.

One reason for the rapid receding of floodwaters is the low water levels in rivers, streams, and hydroelectric and irrigation reservoirs in the North Central region. The entire area has over 2,300 reservoirs, but they are only at an average of 22-77% of their designed capacity. Only three reservoirs are full, requiring regulated operation via spillways with discharge rates of 20-235 m3/s.

The National Center for Meteorological and Hydrological Forecasting predicts that tomorrow, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An will receive 30-70 mm of rain, with some areas receiving over 100 mm, a reduction of one-third compared to September 27th. Floods in the rivers, after reaching their highest level (alert level one), will gradually recede.

Le Hoang - Duc Hung

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