Ba Ha Hydropower Plant releases record flood, thousands of houses submerged in water

Faced with the increasingly high water level flowing into the reservoir of the Ba Ha Hydropower Plant, the Ba Ha Hydropower Plant was forced to discharge floodwaters of up to 16,000 m3/second. This is considered the highest discharge level in the history of hydropower discharges in Vietnam.

By 4 p.m. on November 19, the Dak Lak Province Civil Defense Command said that the Song Ba Ha Hydropower Plant had raised its flood discharge level to 16,100 m3/second. This flood discharge level is considered the highest in the history of hydropower discharge in Vietnam, higher than the historical flood discharge level in 2009. The Song Ba Ha Hydropower Plant is discharging flood water at a large volume because of heavy rain from the upper reaches of the Ba River basin.

By 4:00 p.m. on November 19, the Ba Ha River Hydropower Plant had raised the flood discharge level to over 16,000 cubic meters per second.

Meanwhile, hydropower plants located in the cascade hydropower system of the Ba River such as Dak Krong discharge floodwaters of over 7,000 m3/second, Krong H'nang discharge floodwaters of over 2,100 m3/second. According to the flood map of the downstream of the Ba River, when the Song Ba Ha Hydropower Plant discharges floodwaters at a flow rate of over 14,000 m3/second, over 80% of residential areas along the downstream of the Ba River will be severely flooded.

According to the Dak Lak Provincial Civil Defense Command, the An Khe - Ka Nak Hydropower Plant (located in Gia Lai Province) is also discharging floodwater at a large flow rate of 1,000 m3/second. The Krong H'Nang Hydropower Plant is also discharging floodwater at a flow rate of nearly 1,400 m3/second. With the current discharge rate of hydropower plants, areas along the Ba River in the East of Dak Lak Province are being heavily flooded, with many places being flooded up to nearly 5 meters, causing thousands of houses to be submerged in water.

Many downstream areas are being heavily flooded.

Mr. Ta Anh Tuan, Chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee, said that this flood caused widespread flooding, especially serious in Dong Xuan and Tuy An area (old). The flood exceeded the historical peak in 1993, completely isolating many areas. In many places, the water flowed rapidly and was deeply flooded, making it difficult for rescue vehicles to access. The police force and local authorities have deployed to evacuate people to flood-proof houses, and at the same time activated the "4 on-site" motto to the maximum. Police in communes and wards used canoes, boats, and basket boats for rescue. In particular, the province mobilized two large canoes launched on Ba River and Ky Lo River to support deeply flooded areas.

National Highway 1 through Dak Lak province is completely blocked.

The Dak Lak Provincial Military Command also mobilized all canoes and rescue boats; Military Region 5 also reinforced to approach dangerous areas. However, in many communes such as Dong Xuan, Tuy An Bac, Tuy An Dong, O Loan... the water flowed so fast and was too deep that rescue vehicles could not reach, especially 135 people from 40 households in Dong Xuan commune were trapped in the flood.

On the same afternoon, Dak Lak Provincial Police also sent hundreds of officers and soldiers from units in the west of the province to communes and wards in the east of the province to support rescue work.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Xa-hoi/thuy-dien-ba-ha-xa-lu-ky-luc-hang-nghin-ngoi-nha-chim-trong-bien-nuoc-i788554/