Historic floods kill 4, submerges 200,000 homes in Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen

As of 3:00 pm on Wednesday, heavy rains and flooding had affected at least 45 communes and wards, causing widespread power outages across the province.

Preliminary reports also recorded two people injured; about 4,700 hectares of rice and other crops, 357 hectares of aquaculture farms, and 435 hectares of tea plantations damaged.

In addition, more than 136,000 poultry were reported dead or swept away.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, at 5:00 pm on the same day, floodwaters in the lower section of the Cau River running through southern Thai Nguyen were rising, with water levels in some areas nearing the top of the Ha Chau dike.

At 7:00 pm, the river measured 28.89 meters, or about 2.89 meters above alarm level 3 and 0.08 meters higher than the 2024 record.

By 9:00 pm, it continued to rise, the ministry warned.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, director of the Thai Nguyen Hydrometeorological Station, said that rainfall in the province had ceased on Wednesday, allowing floodwaters in rivers and streams in its northern part to start receding from that night.

However, severe flooding persisted in central areas due to earlier torrential rains and could last for up to seven more days.

To ensure the safety of the dike system, the ministry requested the Thai Nguyen administration to mobilize all available forces, materials, and equipment to reinforce the Ha Chau dike and prevent floodwaters from overflowing the dike and breaching into nearby farmland.

Authorities were also instructed to maintain continuous inspections, monitoring, and patrols along the dike to promptly detect and address any incidents or emergencies.

During an emergency meeting on Tuesday evening, secretary of the provincial Party Committee Trinh Xuan Truong ordered that all resources be concentrated on mitigating flood impacts and accelerating post-flood recovery.

He instructed relevant forces to maintain full personnel strength and actively engage in disaster response and recovery operations.

Truong emphasized the need to explore every possible means to reach isolated areas as quickly as possible to ensure residents’ safety.

After evacuating people from flooded areas, local authorities must provide residents with shelter, food, and other necessities, ensuring that no one is left hungry or cold during the disaster.

Once the water recedes, authorities, together with police, military forces, militia members, young people, and students, are required to help residents clean up debris, repair homes, restore production, and stabilize their lives.