On September 21, the Department of Management and Construction of Irrigation Works (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) issued a telegram on ensuring the safety of irrigation works, preventing flooding and waterlogging for agricultural production and rural domestic water shortage due to the impact of heavy rain in Hue, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong and Southern provinces and cities.
According to the bulletin of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, from September 21-22, the area from Hue City to Da Nang City, the eastern provinces from Quang Ngai to Dak Lak and Khanh Hoa will have moderate to heavy rain, common rainfall of 60-130mm, locally over 200mm.
From the afternoon of September 21st to the end of the night of September 22nd, the western provinces of Dak Lak, Lam Dong and Southern Vietnam will also have rain of 60-130mm, locally over 200mm; there is a risk of heavy rain intensity over 100mm in 3 hours.
Notably, from September 23-24, eastern Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong and Southern regions will continue to have heavy rain. The total rainfall for the whole period from the afternoon of September 21 to the end of September 24 is commonly 120-250mm, locally over 400mm.
Before the above forecast, the Department of Management and Construction of Irrigation Works requested localities to closely monitor the diễn biến of rain and floods, inspect the safety of irrigation works, especially reservoirs under construction, degraded or at risk of unsafety. Works at risk of incidents must arrange forces, materials and response plans according to the "4 on-site" motto.
Localities are also required to zone plant areas at risk of waterlogging, proactively pump out buffer water; when heavy rain occurs, they must operate the maximum capacity of irrigation works, prioritizing residential areas, industrial parks, low-lying areas and plant areas with high economic value.
For reservoirs with low capacity, specialized agencies are required to take advantage of water storage in accordance with rain forecasts, in order to proactively prevent drought and water shortage in the dry season affected by El Nino. At the same time, pay attention to ensuring the safety of irrigation works, especially for reservoirs with flood discharge gates, it is necessary to seriously implement early warnings to people, not to discharge floods abnormally causing unsafety in the downstream area.
Units must organize 24/24 hour duty duties during rain and floods and promptly handle incidents from the first hour and regularly report the project safety situation to the Department of Management and Construction of Irrigation Works.
