Due to the impact of heavy rain lasting from the night of June 15 to the morning of June 16, a number of serious landslides appeared in Dien Bien province, causing traffic congestion.
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Thao A Phu - Chairman of the People's Committee of Huoi Leng Commune, Muong Cha District, said that on the morning of June 16, on National Highway 12 through Huoi Leng Commune, Muong Cha District, a landslide occurred at two locations: Km 119+500 and Km 120+750.
"Although the landslide volume is not too large, continuous rain and a lot of mud have caused traffic jams" - Mr. Phu said.
According to Mr. Phu, local authorities and functional units have urgently mobilized specialized machinery to the scene to carry out the leveling and road clearance work.
"It is expected that early this afternoon (June 16) the route can be opened for traffic to resume" - Mr. Phu added.
Present at the landslide site since around 8am, Mr. Lo Van Thiet - a driver running the Dien Bien Phu City - Muong Lay Town route said: "I and many other vehicles were helpless and could not pass because a large amount of mud had overflowed from the embankment. The line of vehicles had to wait in long lines.
According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, last night and this morning (September 16), in the Northern region, there was rain, moderate rain and thunderstorms, locally heavy to very heavy rain. The rainfall from 7pm on June 15 to 8am on June 16 in Hua Ngai (Muong Cha District, Dien Bien) was up to 175.8mm.
It is forecasted that during the day and night of June 16, the Northern region will have scattered showers and thunderstorms, locally heavy rain with rainfall of 15-30mm, locally over 60m. Mountainous areas will have rain at night, moderate rain, locally heavy rain to very heavy rain with rainfall of 20-50mm, locally over 100mm.
During thunderstorms, there is a possibility of tornadoes, lightning, hail and strong gusts of wind. Localized heavy rains are likely to cause flash floods on small rivers and streams, landslides on steep slopes and flooding in low-lying areas. Warning level 1 risk of natural disasters due to tornadoes, lightning, and hail.
