Vehicles wade into floodwaters on a road in My Quy ward of Long Xuyen city, the Mekong Delta province of An Giang

Flooding and tidal surges over thelast few days have wreaked havoc in many localities of the southern region.

On October 5 morning, authorised forces of BinhPhuoc province had to urgently evacuate tens of households in Tan Dong, TanThien and Tan Xuan wards of Dong Xoai city due to sudden flooding.

As the floodwaters rose unexpectedly, manyresidents became stranded.

Chairman of the Dong Xoai municipal People’s CommitteeNguyen Minh Binh said shortly after being notified, local authorities sentpersonnel to rescue the stranded residents. By 10 am, 53 households with 86people had been moved to safer places.

He noted that although floods come annually,such a water level is the highest in 10 years, making it hard for authoritiesto respond.

Relevant agencies said non-stop downpours fromOctober 4 afternoon to early October 5 had led to a strong influx of water fromupstream areas, which in turn had resulted in rapidly rising water.

In Vinh Long province, tidal surges exceedingflood warning Level 3 since late September have broken many dyke sections.

On September 28 – 29, the floodwaters inundated80ha of fruit trees and over 100 houses in An Binh commune of Long Ho district,the communal People’s Committee reported.

Chairman of the committee Nguyen Huu Phuoc saidapart from assisting locals to address flood consequences, authorities havealso examined and strengthened key dyke sections. 

The biggest concern of An Binh now is the areasadjacent to the Tien and Co Chien rivers, which often suffer from erosion.However, dyke reinforcement efforts are just temporary since the commune hasyet to be able to carry out long-term work, he noted.

According to Vinh Long’s steering board fornatural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue, tidal surges havecaused losses of about 10.47 billion VND (451,000 USD) in the province. Inparticular, 329ha of rice, 360ha of fruit trees and other crops, and 8ha offish farming have been submerged. Besides, 70km of roads, 1,786 houses, eightschools and 18 markets have been flooded.

The same situation has also been reported inother southern localities, including Ho Chi Minh City and Mekong Deltaprovinces. The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention andControl has asked them to press on with settling flood consequences andreinforcing dykes and embankments to gear up against more tidal surges tocome./. VNA