Lam Dong: Responding to floods at the confluence of two rivers

Photo caption — Nam Da and many communes along the Krong No River, Lam Dong province have just experienced a historic flood. Photo: VNA

Historic flood

After many consecutive heavy rains since November 17, floodwaters from the two rivers Krong Ana and Krong No continued to increase downstream. By November 20, many localities along the rivers Krong No and Krong Ana were flooded. Land, houses, crops... along the river of many households and businesses... were deeply submerged in water.

In Nam Da commune, Lam Dong province, especially in Buon Choah commune, Krong No district (formerly Dak Nong province), the water level on the river rose by the minute and exceeded all predictions of the authorities and people. Although this area was previously determined to become the "flood center" of the communes along the Krong No and Krong Ana rivers, the authorities and people have all come up with a response plan.

Ms. Ly Thi Binh, 66 years old, residing in Ninh Giang village, Nam Da commune, said that her family moved from Quang Ninh province to live and settle in this area since 1991. Ninh Giang and neighboring villages are riverside areas, flooded almost every year. And big floods, when water rises to the surface of the fields, submerging all the land and gardens of the people, happen every 4-5 years.

“This is the confluence of the Krong No and Krong Ana rivers to form the Serepok River. Before this year’s flood, the biggest flood here occurred in 1998. The most recent big flood was in 2020. But this year’s flood rose faster and stronger than any flood we have ever experienced,” Ms. Ly Thi Binh added. Then, pointing to the wall of her house, Ms. Binh affirmed that the flood peak on the evening of November 21, 2025 was about half a meter higher than in 1998.

Ms. Hoang Thi Minh, 46 years old, living in the same village, said that on the afternoon of November 21, her whole family moved to a relative's house in a higher place to avoid the flood. Before leaving, they raised their furniture, especially equipment such as televisions, refrigerators, electrical appliances... about 1 meter high, but when they returned, everything was submerged in water. "If the roof was about 1 meter high, nothing would be left," Ms. Minh said briefly.

According to the People's Committee of Nam Da commune, floodwaters poured in from two rivers from November 17-18 and increased dramatically from November 20. At the peak, the commune calculated the amount of water flowing from upstream to be about 2,300m3/second, higher than any flood ever recorded.

Ensuring people's safety

Speaking to VNA reporters on November 26, Mr. Ngo Xuan Dong, Chairman of Nam Da Commune People's Committee, said that to calculate and determine the total amount of flood water flowing from upstream, the commune relies on many channels and sources of information. First, it closely monitors weather forecasts and flood warnings from the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting and related units.

Next, the commune relied on flood warning bulletins from Buôn Tua Srah hydropower reservoir (in the administrative boundaries of Nam Ka commune, Dak Lak province and Quang Phu commune, Lam Dong province) to determine the amount of flood water flowing from the upstream of Krong No river. However, for the amount of water flowing from the upstream of Krong Ana river, the commune did not have specific data. To calculate this number, the commune relied on warning bulletins and flood warning notices, especially information on the total amount of water flowing into Buôn Kuốp hydropower reservoir (located on the Serepok river, about 10 km downstream from the confluence of the two rivers Krong No and Krong Ana).

“We calculated and determined that the water level on the evening of November 21 will be over 2,000 m3/s, with the highest point reaching over 2,300 m3/s. Therefore, from noon on November 21, the commune mobilized all forces to evacuate more than 230 households; of which, 9 households had to be forced to evacuate,” Mr. Ngo Xuan Dong added.

According to Mr. Ngo Xuan Dong, if the entire population is not forced to be evacuated, the risk of death on the night of November 21 is very high because the floodwaters have submerged more than 100 houses. The evacuation of people and property in many areas will not be completed until 2-3 am. Among them, many households have to transport and carry dozens of tons of rice, fertilizers and local forces, people have a hard time... And one of the most difficult things is that many households are subjective, they calculate flood avoidance based on the water level from previous floods, while the floodwaters this time are much higher.

According to the report of Nam Da Commune People's Committee, the total damage caused by the recent flood was at a record level, about 100 billion VND. The whole commune has more than 1,000 people directly affected and there were no human casualties. Regarding infrastructure, about 15km of roads, 15km of canals were flooded, collapsed, damaged; dozens of fishing boats on the river were damaged, lost...

Before and after the flood, Nam Da commune mobilized about 100 local forces to support people and overcome the consequences. Lam Dong Provincial Military Command and Lam Dong Provincial Police also supported the locality with nearly 200 people to overcome the consequences of the flood and stabilize people's lives.

“We have provided timely support to the people and have not let any cases of people going hungry due to the floods happen. The two most essential things after the flood are clean water and food that are always guaranteed. Currently, the commune is continuing to support the people according to the principle of handling the situation as the water recedes,” Mr. Ngo Xuan Dong added.

According to Mr. Ngo Xuan Dong, the commune proposed and requested the People's Committee of Lam Dong province and relevant departments and agencies to support funding for repairing traffic routes, irrigation canals, and public works damaged by floods. Regarding the damage to households raising fish in cages on the Krong No River, the commune requested the province to have a suitable support mechanism according to the actual damage situation... In the long term, the commune requested the province to allocate funds to build and complete projects to stabilize flood-affected people that are being implemented unfinished in the locality.

Nam Da Commune, Lam Dong Province was established on the basis of merging 3 communes Buon Choah, Nam Da and Dak Sor, Krong No District, Dak Nong Province (old). This place is also known as the rice granary of the whole province with Buon Choah field covering an area of over 700 hectares. This is also one of the fields with the largest area and the best yield and quality of rice in the Central Highlands provinces.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/xa-hoi/lam-dong-ung-pho-voi-lu-noi-hop-luu-2-dong-song-20251127131645588.htm