River water levels exceed warning levels, risk of flooding is unpredictable

The rising water level of the Bui River caused flooding in many residential areas in Chuong My district (Hanoi).

Hundreds of households are still flooded.

Located along the Bui River, Hoang Van Thu Commune (Chuong My District) is one of the localities most severely affected by the heavy rains that have lasted for more than 2 weeks. Currently, hundreds of households in this locality are still living with floodwaters.

Hoang Van Thu Commune Chairman Le Hoai Thi said that almost every year, local people are affected by floods on the Bui River. However, what people are experiencing now is considered the most severe in many years.

According to statistics from the whole Chuong My district, there are still nearly 1,500 households in 24 hamlets in many communes along the Bui River that are flooded from 0.5 to 2.0 meters. In recent days, the water has begun to recede but very slowly. Traveling is extremely difficult due to the flood.

Meanwhile, in Quoc Oai district, the water level of the Tich River has risen above alert level III, greatly affecting the lives of 531 households with more than 2,500 people. Currently, 5 communes in this district are still deeply flooded, including Can Huu, Phu Cat, Liep Tuyet, Tuyet Nghia and Dong Yen. Many households were forced to evacuate and are currently unable to return home.

Not only are people’s lives disrupted, rising river water levels have also flooded tens of thousands of hectares of farmers’ crops. Especially rice fields in the budding and tillering stages are now at risk of being “completely lost” due to being flooded for too long.

The rice areas that are likely to be irrecoverable amount to thousands of hectares, mainly located in communes along the Bui, Tich, and Day rivers in the districts of Chuong My, Thanh Oai, Quoc Oai, and My Duc. The slower the water recedes, the more restless the farmers become.

Rising river levels could exacerbate flooding in some areas.

Risk of river water continuing to rise

According to Deputy Head of the Hanoi Department of Irrigation and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, Dao Quang Khai, due to the impact of heavy rain, the water levels of all rivers are at high levels. The most recent updated monitoring data shows that the water levels of the rivers: Bui, Tich, Day, and Cau are all above the warning level.

Of these, the water level of the Day River at the Ba Tha hydrological station (Ung Hoa district), the water level of the Cau River at the Luong Phuc hydrological station (Soc Son district), and the water level of the Ca Lo River at the Manh Tan hydrological station (Dong Anh district) are at level above alert level I.

The water level of the Tich River at Kim Quan hydrological station (Thach That district) is above alert level II; while the water level of the Bui River at Yen Duyet hydrological station (Chuong My district) and the water level of the Tich River at Vinh Phuc hydrological station (Quoc Oai district) are both above alert level III.

Worryingly, according to the assessment of the hydrometeorological agency, due to the influence of low pressure combined with converging winds, in the Northern Delta and Midlands (including Hanoi) there will continue to be rain for at least the next two days (August 1-2, 2024). Rainfall is generally from 10 - 40mm, in some places it is larger.

In the context of the water level in the inland river system being at a very high level, the continued rain will greatly affect the drainage capacity in residential areas and rice fields. The risk of flooding is assessed to be very complicated and unpredictable.

Nguyen Xuan Dai, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue of Hanoi City, said that in order to proactively respond to floods on rivers, the unit has maintained 24/7 on-duty work; regularly updated and informed localities about water levels on rivers.

Based on the assessment of the impact risk, the Steering Committee announced flood warnings on rivers according to the warning level, and at the same time requested localities, relevant agencies and units to strictly implement measures when there is a flood warning according to regulations.

Faced with the complicated developments of natural disasters, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue of Hanoi City Nguyen Xuan Dai requested that riverside localities pay special attention to key areas and areas at risk of flooding to develop plans to evacuate people and move assets to safe places, absolutely avoiding human casualties.

For localities that are heavily affected by floods such as Chuong My, Quoc Oai, etc., it is necessary to continue implementing support measures to ensure the lives of people in areas that are still flooded. At the same time, mobilize resources to support households to soon stabilize their lives in areas where floods have passed.

 

According to statistics from the Hanoi Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue , currently, the city's four irrigation enterprises are still actively operating more than 100 pumping stations with a total capacity of about 1 million m3/hour along the river systems: Bui, Tich, Day, Nhue... to focus on drainage and flood prevention for residential areas and riverside fields.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/ha-noi-muc-nuoc-cac-song-vuot-muc-bao-dong-nguy-co-ngap-lut-kho-luong.html