Northern provinces cope with torrential rain

Hanoi (VNA) – The office of the Steering Committee for Natural Disasters Prevention and Control said torrential rain raged through many northern provinces on May 24 and caused remarkable human and material losses in some localities.

The rainfall rose to 247mm in mountainous Yen Bai province. The heavy rain resulted in inundation and caused the death of a woman in Yen Bai city. It also submerged 206 houses and over 83 hectare of crops. The economic loss is estimated at around 200 million VND (9,000 USD).

Local authorities have mobilised forces to help people move to safer places while directing relevant units to enact measures to address flooding on some routes.

In Hanoi, the pouring rain flooded almost all streets in the capital. More than 1,600 hectares of crops in the city were submerged.

Workers from the municipal water drainage and green trees companies have taken measures to deal with the situation and ease traffic jams. The flooding subsided in most places by around 8 am on May 25.

The irrigation sector has also directed relevant companies to operate 37 pumping stations to deal with flooding.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said heavy rain is likely to continue hitting northern mountainous provinces as well as the Central Highlands and southern region.

Landslides could occur in the northern mountainous region, especially Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, and Bac Kan provinces.-VNA