According to a quick report on November 20 from the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the flood situation in the South Central region and the Central Highlands is developing very complicatedly, causing serious damage to people and property.
The main reason is due to very heavy rainfall, concentrated in a short time. Observation data shows that the rainfall in 3 days (from November 16-20) in many places has reached record levels, such as at Tran Dam (Dak Lak) at 1,735mm, Son Thanh Tay (Dak Lak) 1,630mm. In the past 24 hours alone, some stations recorded rainfall from 300-500mm, especially Hoa My Tay (Dak Lak) up to 841mm.
At 7:00 a.m. on November 20, although it had passed the peak, the water level at Cung Son (Ba River) was still at 40.03 m, from 3 to 5.53 m above alert level. The flood peak recorded at 1:00 a.m. the same day was 1.09 m higher than the historical flood peak in 1993. Similarly, at Phu Lam station, the flood peak also exceeded the historical mark of 1993 of 0.19m.
Notably, the flood on Dinh Ninh Hoa River (Khanh Hoa) has also exceeded the historical flood level in 1986 of 0.12m and is still rising.
While floods on rivers in Hue, Da Nang, and Kon River (Gia Lai) are receding, the developments in Khanh Hoa and Dak Lak are still very complicated.
The forecast shows that in the next 24 hours, floods on Cai Nha Trang River and especially Cai Phan Rang River will continue to rise, with the flood peak expected to exceed alert level 3 by 1.0m to 3.8m, seriously threatening downstream areas.
The human losses are very serious with 16 deaths (Khanh Hoa 11, Hue 2, Da Nang 1, Dak Lak 1, Gia Lai 1) and 5 missing people (Da Nang 3, Quang Tri 1, Khanh Hoa 1).
Initial statistics show that there were 43,282 flooded houses, mainly concentrated in Dak Lak (23,935 houses) and Gia Lai (10,426 houses). The flood also damaged 91 houses.
Regarding agriculture, more than 10,000 hectares of rice and crops were damaged, 6,511 livestock and poultry died and were swept away.
Traffic infrastructure was severely affected. Currently, there are 47 locations on national highways that have been eroded and deeply flooded, causing traffic congestion. In particular, at Km226+700 National Highway 20 ( Mimosa Pass, Lam Dong), a 70m long, 40m deep road has completely collapsed and broken. Khanh Le Pass on National Highway 27C was also eroded, causing congestion.
The power grid system was severely damaged, and by the morning of November 20, there were still 553,250 customers in the entire area without power.
In the face of the above situation, the Prime Minister has continuously issued Official Dispatches No. 222, 219, 218, 217/CD-TTg to direct localities to focus on responding to and overcoming the consequences. The Government has also decided to provide emergency support of 50 billion VND to Khanh Hoa province.
On November 18, President Luong Cuong visited people in flooded areas of Da Nang; Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung also inspected the response work in Khanh Hoa.
The Ministry of National Defense has directed Military Region 5 to deploy a forward command post in Dak Lak. Military and police forces are actively participating in search and rescue, supporting the evacuation of people.
To date, localities have evacuated 17,669 households/46,769 people in dangerous areas. The operation of reservoirs to reduce floods downstream is being urgently deployed. Many localities have allowed students to stay home from school to ensure safety.
According to the forecast, from now until the night of November 21, the eastern areas of the provinces from Quang Ngai to Khanh Hoa, Gia Lai and Lam Dong will continue to have heavy to very heavy rain. The risk of flash floods, landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in low-lying areas is still very high. Authorities and people need to continue to closely monitor natural disaster developments and take timely response measures.
