Flooding leaves over 1,800 homes inundated, 17,000 students at home in Vietnam’s Gia Lai

Gia Lai Party Committee Secretary Thai Dai Ngoc and chairman of the provincial People's Committee Pham Anh Tuan on Thursday chaired a meeting with relevant departments and local authorities to coordinate responses to the ongoing floods.

Flooding has so far affected 1,857 households, while five houses have had their roofs torn off by strong winds, according to the provincial civil defense command.

Quy Nhon Bac Ward has been hardest hit, with 1,605 households flooded.

Heavy rain, accompanied by landslides, has also disrupted traffic and damaged several roads and low-lying crossings.

In response to the worsening weather, the Gia Lai Department of Education and Training instructed schools to proactively suspend classes whenever travel or teaching conditions could not be guaranteed to be safe.

As of Thursday, nearly 17,000 students at schools in flood-affected areas had been allowed to stay home.

Moderate to heavy rainfall are forecast to hit eastern Gia Lai from Thursday night through Friday morning.

Rainfall is expected to range from 50mm to 100mm in most areas, with some locations potentially receiving more than 150mm.

Heavy rain is forecast to gradually ease by midday on Friday.

Gia Lai orders immediate evacuation of residents in high-risk areas

Chairman Tuan urged local authorities and relevant agencies not to become negligent, even if rainfall eases or floodwaters temporarily recede.

He stressed that protecting residents' lives must remain the top priority, calling for early and proactive disaster-response measures and readiness to deal promptly with any emerging emergencies.

Local authorities were instructed to maintain strict around-the-clock emergency duty and continuously monitor developments in rainfall and flooding.

Authorities were further directed to urgently inspect and reinforce vulnerable locations and infrastructure facilities at risk of failure.

Ward and commune leaders were assigned direct responsibility for monitoring conditions in their areas and coordinating evacuation efforts.

Residents in dangerous locations must be moved immediately to safe areas, without waiting for an incident to occur before taking action, the provincial chairman emphasized.