Northern Vietnam warned about severe flooding as river water levels swell up

Three largest hydro-electric power plants in the north – Son La, Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang – opened their flood gates on August 2 due to large water flows upstream, that is expected to cause water levels of the Da, Lo and Red rivers to rise fast, especially in the downstream area.

Water levels of these rivers are standing at between the first and second alert levels and they are anticipated to keep rising if heavy rain continues to lash the region in the coming days.

Flooding will impact activities such as waterway transportation, aquatic farming, agricultural production, people’s livelihood and other socio-economic activities, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

Flood water levels of small rivers and streams downstream the Red and Thai Binh rivers have been high for many days, which can cause riverside landslides and threaten the safety of dykes in the riverine region of the Red River Delta.  

Meteorologists said northern Vietnam has experienced widespread heavy rainfall for the past three days, with some localities recording 300mm of rain, thus breaking the 30-year record.  

Heavy rain will continue throughout the northern region with total rainfall reaching 10% to 30% higher than previous years, they forecast.

They warned about the possibility of severe flooding in low-lying areas and flashfloods and landslides in mountainous localities. They recommended that the localities to be affected put in place residence evacuation plans if the situation worsens.

Vietnam is bracing itself for highly complex natural disasters from now till the end of the year into 2025 due to the shift from El Nino to neutral and then to La Nina. The arrival of La Nina in autumn could lead to heavy rain and major storms to hit the country.