Central provinces on flood alert as typhoon Molave weakens

At 16.00hrs October 28 the tropical low depression was churning through the Vietnam-Laos border, packing winds of between 40-60kph. In the next 12 hours, it is forecast to move further inland and weaken into a depression on the territory of Thailand.

The low depression is bringing heavy rain to central provinces from Nghe An to Quang Binh, with estimated rainfall of between 200-400mm, even 500mm in several places.

Heavy downpours are causing water levels in the region’s major river system to swell up to second or third alert levels.

Notably, the water levels of the Vu Gia River are rising to the second alert level and are expected to reach the third alert level in the coming hours when the Dak Mi 4 hydropower plant is scheduled to open its floodgates.

Rising floodwaters are likely to submerge low-lying areas in Da Nang City and nearby Quang Nam province. Meteorologists have raised the natural disaster risk caused by floods, flashfloods, landslides and inundation in Da Nang and Quang Nam to level 4 out of the five-tier alert system.

Meanwhile, preliminary reports showed typhoon Molave, with winds gusting 135kph, had torn roofs off more than 56,000 houses, brought down hundreds of big trees and caused widespread outages, affecting 1.7 million households in central provinces.

Two officials of Phuoc Son mountainous district, Quang Nam province, were buried in a landslide when they were persuading local people to evacuate to a higher ground. Rescue workers were mobilized to search for the victims.

Elsewhere rising floodwaters washed away a steel bridge in Kon Ray district, Kon Tum province, isolating 1,500 local residents. Many other communes in Kon Tum were also cut off due to severe flooding.

Several provinces announced closures of schools till October 29 to protect students’ lives. Meanwhile, rail services along the North-South route were paralysed as fallen trees in Khanh Hoa hampered express trains from running back and forth.