VOV.VN - Provinces across Vietnam’s northern mountainous region are mobilizing hundreds of military and police personnel alongside local forces in a race against time to locate missing persons, clear landslide-blocked roads, and intensify safety warnings amid a severe flooding spell.
In Lai Chau rovince's Muong Than area, following days of heavy rain and floods, skies cleared this morning, July 18, and stream water levels began to recede. Amidst the post-disaster debris, rescue teams recovered four of the eight missing persons, with all four confirmed dead.
More than 500 personnel from the police, military, militia, local authorities, and residents are divided into multiple teams, utilizing excavators and specialized equipment to search along streams, sediment areas, and suspected trap sites for the remaining four victims.
Conducting an urgent meeting with rescue forces at the Team 11 community house, Chairman of the Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee Ha Quang Trung directed teams to maintain maximum focus on search and rescue operations, while strictly warning against complacency as risks of ongoing rain and floods persist.
Trung noted that while rainfall has decreased, water levels on rivers and streams remain high, and heavy rain forecast for today and tomorrow could trigger further flash floods and torrents, requiring immediate evacuation of residents to safe areas and appropriate rescue deployment.
In neighboring Son La province, despite the rain stopping this morning, floods persist on local rivers and streams.
The large-scale heavy rain over the past two days caused water levels to rise sharply, and although rain has ceased across most areas, river levels are receding at a sluggish pace.
On the morning of July 18, the water level on the Nam Pan River at the Hat Lot Hydrological Station was recorded at 511.63 meters, which is 0.13 meters above the first-stage flood warning threshold.
The water level on the Ma River at the Xa La Hydrological Station reached 280.51 meters, standing 0.01 meters above the second-stage flood warning threshold.
While water levels are forecast to drop slowly this afternoon, the current rain spell is expected to last until July 20 with common rainfall between 30 and 120 millimeters, and over 200 millimeters in some areas.
Consequently, local authorities in Son La are intensifying warnings, urging residents to closely monitor weather developments and avoid entering flooded rivers or streams to catch fish or collect firewood.
Meanwhile, heavy rain and severe winds between the night of July 15 and afternoon of July 17 caused widespread damage to housing, agricultural production, and infrastructure across Lao Cai Province, though no human casualties were reported.
According to Lao Cai province's Department of Agriculture and Environment, at least 88 households sustained housing damage, forcing the temporary relocation of 24 families.
Agricultural losses include approximately 65 hectares of submerged or buried rice fields, alongside the loss of 10 buffaloes, 120 bamboo rats, and around 500 kilograms of fish.
Landslides and flooding also damaged several roads, bridges, and irrigation works, including a wooden bridge in Che Tao Commune that was washed away, leaving 32 households temporarily isolated.
Total economic damages are estimated to exceed US$160,000. Immediately following the disaster, local civil defense committees mobilized personnel, police, and militia to evacuate at-risk households and clear debris.
By this morning, blocked sections on National Highway 32 and inter-commune roads had been reopened to traffic, while clearing operations and traffic diversion continue on National Highway 279 and Route DT.175B.
In response to the weather conditions across the northern mountainous region, the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army has issued an urgent dispatch directing military units to proactively deploy forces and equipment to coordinate with local administrations and ensure safety in high-risk areas.
VOV.VN - Flash floods triggered by heavy rain struck Muong Than Commune in Lai Chau province, northwestern Vietnam, on the morning of July 17, leaving three people missing, one injured and hundreds of homes damaged or swept away.
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