Urgent response to coastal erosion, threat to East Sea dike in Can Tho

On November 4, after surveying the actual landslide point of the East Sea dike (from culvert No. 13 to culvert No. 14) in Vinh Hai commune, Can Tho city, Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee Tran Chi Hung requested the specialized agency to synthesize the situation. At the same time, advise the City Party Committee and the City People's Committee to promptly direct the implementation of steps to resolve the risk of coastal landslides affecting the East Sea dike.

Sandbags are inserted into areas of seawater intrusion to limit landslides. Illustration photo: Tran Le Lam/VNA

According to Vice Chairman Tran Chi Hung, the areas that have not been built with breakwaters are showing signs of severe erosion, which will have a big impact in the long run. Investing in breakwaters to reduce waves and create alluvial areas will help restore mangrove forests, thereby reducing the risk of threats to production and people's lives.

The coastal area of ​​Can Tho city is 72 km long; of which the section with forecasted dangerous landslides is about 23.4 km long. The landslide situation is becoming serious and complicated, especially in areas such as Vinh Hai commune, Vinh Chau ward, Lai Hoa commune and Vinh Phuoc ward.

The main causes were identified as the impact of climate change, rising sea levels, large waves, and the lack of natural wave-breaking forests. Notably, many landslides occurred during the dry season, indicating that wave pressure and currents were beyond the self-recovery capacity of the coastal ecosystem. The erosion or complete disappearance of coastal protection forests has caused waves to directly hit the dike body, seriously threatening the safety of the dike system, property, and people's lives.

Previously, in early October 2025, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City issued a Decision to declare a natural disaster emergency situation regarding the coastal landslide incident in the area from culvert No. 13 to culvert No. 14, Vinh Hai commune.

This area has suffered severe erosion in recent years, with many sections completely losing their protective forests, while waves and high tides directly threaten the dike. Strong high tides in early 2023 and late 2024 caused erosion, dike breaches, and flooded many residential areas.

Thanks to the attention and support of the Central Government, in the period of 2023 - 2024, this area has been invested in more than 10 km of underground embankment to reduce waves, which has clearly shown its effectiveness in protecting the dike and protective forest belt. However, the adjacent section from culvert No. 13 to culvert No. 14 (about 2,400 m long) has not been invested in embankment. This caused this area to continue to erode and break the embankment during the high tide in early 2025, causing flooding of houses and damage to about 3 hectares of crops and fish ponds.

Currently, this area has about 20 households living outside the dike, directly affected by wind and waves, with a high risk of loss of life and property, especially during storms or tropical depressions.

The leaders of the Can Tho City People's Committee have requested relevant departments, branches and localities to concentrate, coordinate closely, and synchronously deploy emergency response and recovery measures to prevent landslides from spreading.

The People's Committee of Vinh Hai commune is assigned to put up warning signs and provide timely information to the people; mobilize forces to monitor developments, prepare materials and means to respond when bad situations occur. At the same time, the commune government mobilizes households to evacuate to safe places and coordinates policy support according to regulations.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/khan-cap-ung-pho-sat-lo-bo-bien-de-doa-de-bien-dong-tai-can-tho-20251104164257469.htm