The North is preparing for prolonged heavy rain, with the risk of flash floods and landslides.

According to Mr. Mai Van Khiem, Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF), from the beginning of May until now, although the peak of the flood season in the North has not yet been reached, many dangerous weather patterns have appeared such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning, hail, in which some places have recorded localized thunderstorms and heavy rains with common rainfall from 100 - 200mm, in some places over 300mm.

In the early morning of May 18, flash floods hit Tan Luot village (Phuc Dong commune, Ba Be district, Bac Kan province), killing two people.

Mr. Khiem said that in the coming days, thunderstorms will still occur mainly in the late afternoon and at night. It is forecasted that from May 22 to 25, in the Northern region and Thanh Hoa, there is a possibility of widespread heavy rain in the North, with rainfall ranging from 100 - 250mm, with some places over 350mm; there may be localized rain with high intensity (over 100mm in 3 hours). In addition, in the Central Highlands and the Southern region, areas where the rainy season has begun, thunderstorms in the late afternoon and at night will also occur more frequently.

Due to heavy rains lasting for many days, soil moisture models show that some areas in the northern provinces are near saturation (over 85%) or have reached saturation. In the coming hours (on May 19), Ha Giang , Lang Son, Lao Cai, and Tuyen Quang are localities warned of the risk of flash floods on small rivers and streams, and landslides on steep slopes.

To proactively respond to natural disasters in the coming time, the Department of Hydrometeorology, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has issued a document warning of some specific natural disaster risks to ministries, branches and localities, especially from now until the end of May. With the forecasted rain scenario as above, it is necessary to be on guard against the risk from May 22-25, on the upper reaches of Thao River, Lo River and some small rivers in the North, Thanh Hoa is likely to experience a flood with a common flood amplitude of 2-5m.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/doi-song/mien-bac-chuan-bi-mua-lon-keo-dai-nguy-co-lu-quet-va-sat-lo-i768795/