The Central Highlands and Phu Quoc recently suffered from extreme flooding following record-breaking torrential rain.
According to the Natural Disaster Prevention Central Committee, three days of flooding across provinces in the Central Highlands caused 10 deaths and left one missing person. More than 12,000 houses and 20,000 hectares of crops are submerged, on top of the 120,000 cattle and poultry swept away by the floods, as reported by VnExpress.
Landslides occurred along many roads, irrigation canals and dams causing, severe damage, including at two hydroelectric reservoirs in Dak Nong Province. The estimated cost of the damage is VND1 trillion (US$43 million), of which VND107 billion (US$4.6 million) occurred in Phu Quoc.
Regarding the causes of flooding, Director of Central Highlands Hydrometeorological Station Ta Dang Hoan told the news source that areas have experienced abnormally heavy rain: “This region has always suffered from torrential rain, but never seen such an extreme level of rain in a short period of time like recently.”
The main cause of the heavy rain is the southwest monsoon, in addition to influences from tropical depressions.
The narrow rivers and streams in Dak Lak and Lam Dong cannot withstand the rapid urbanization that is affecting drainage systems. Hoan added: “Deforestation and excessive wood exploitation could be a major cause of flooding in Central Highlands areas.”
Lam Dong suffered the most out of five provinces in the region. Director of the Department of Agriculture and Development of Lam Dong Province Nguyen Van Son claimed that besides the impacts of climate change, flooding is also due to the enhanced greenhouse effect.
According to the Director of Hydro-meteorological stations in Kien Giang Province, Le Xuan Hien, in the first nine days of August, Phu Quoc saw its most rain since 1978, at 1,152 mm, compared to the average 458 mm.
[Photo via VnExpress]
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