Floods in Central Viet Nam cause 50 casualties

According to the VDDMA, from November 16 to 19, the South Central region (from Gia Lai to Khanh Hoa) experienced prolonged heavy rainfall, with some areas recording up to 1,721 mm. On November 19 alone, the Hoa My Tay meteorological-hydrological station in Dak Lak measured 841 mm of rain. The intense downpours caused rivers and streams to rise rapidly, leading to severe flooding and water levels surpassing historical records on many major rivers.

In Dak Lak, floodwaters on the Ba River at the Phu Lam station rose 1.18 meters above alarm level 3, while the Krong Ana River was 0.32 meters above the same level; the Ky Lo River has receded to alarm level 2. Khanh Hoa was heavily impacted as the Dinh River in Ninh Hoa reached 6.77 meters at the Ninh Hoa station, which is 1.07 meters above alarm level 3 and 0.19 meters higher than the historic 1986 flood. Several other rivers, including the Cai River in Nha Trang and the Cai River in Phan Rang, also surpassed alarm level 3.

The human toll is extremely severe: the region has recorded 50 deaths and missing persons, including 40 fatalities (2 in Hue, 1 in Khanh Hoa, 3 in Gia Lai, 16 in Dak Lak, 14 in Khanh Hoa, and 4 in Lam Dong) and 10 missing (1 in Quang Tri, 3 in Khanh Hoa, 1 in Khanh Hoa, 4 in Dak Lak, and 1 in Lam Dong).

Regarding housing, 146 homes were damaged and more than 52,000 households were flooded, with many communes and wards in Khanh Hoa (54), Gia Lai (35), and Dak Lak (34) severely affected. Agricultural losses are also substantial: 13,026 hectares of rice and crops were inundated; 2,183 hectares of perennial and annual plants were damaged; 30,731 livestock and poultry died or were swept away; and 88 hectares of lobster farming in Khanh Hoa were destroyed.

Traffic was blocked at multiple points on national highways, including QL1, QL14, QL14E, QL14H, QL40B, and QL20, disrupting the transport of goods and passengers, and several trains from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City were canceled.

The power system was also heavily affected, with over 1 million customers losing electricity. So far, about 457,470 households have had power restored, while 553,250 households in Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Khanh Hoa remain without electricity.

In response to the situation, the military, police, militia, and relevant authorities have urgently carried out rescue operations, evacuated residents, and provided food, drinking water, and traffic safety. The Prime Minister has ordered emergency support of 50 billion VND for Khanh Hoa and several other provinces, while ministries, agencies, and local authorities coordinate disaster response and mitigation efforts, particularly managing reservoirs to reduce downstream flooding.

Local authorities are continuing to assess damages, carry out recovery efforts, and request additional support in food, supplies, and rescue equipment to stabilize residents’ lives after the historic floods.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has issued three urgent telegrams and deployed three working groups to coordinate early with local authorities in responding to and recovering from the disaster. The Ministry also sent two rounds of SMS alerts to more than 26 million subscribers and 24 million Zalo messages to warn residents in high-risk areas, while directing the operation of hydropower and irrigation reservoirs to reduce downstream flooding.