Rising high tide has breached several dyke sections along rivers in the Mekong Delta and landslips along the banks have swept away a number of houses, rendering hundreds homeless.
Many sections of dykes have breached over the last few days from the surging high tide in Cu Lao Dung District in Soc Trang Province, said Pham Hong Van, deputy chairman of the District People’s Committee.
From October 15-18, almost 106 dyke sections were breached in Cu Lao Dung District, inundating vast areas of farm crops and 1,200 hectares of sugarcane.
Authorized organs in the district have rushed to fortify the breached dyke sections. However some sections stretch upto 10 meters, make repair work very hard.
Lai Thanh An, head of the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention in Bac Lieu Province, said that the high tide reached 2.23m on Thursday morning, said to be the highest level in the last several years.
Streets in Bac Lieu City were under 5-10cm of water while roads in other districts of the province were also flooded, causing difficulty in travel for local people.
Floodwaters have affected nearly 2,300 hectares of seafood farming area and submerged more than 300 houses and three schools in Dong Hai District.
Many streets in Can Tho City continue to be submerged in early mornings and late afternoons, causing heavy traffic jams. The high tide measured 2.08m on Thursday.
Vo Van Chinh, chairman of the People’s Committee in Ninh Kieu District of Can Tho City, has instructed authorized organs to keep a close eye on the high tide and examine the dyke system regularly to ensure safety.
The Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention in Dong Thap Province said that they have completed repair work at the landslide site in Thuong Phuoc 1 Commune in Hong Ngu District. However, more landslides may occur in 10 districts and towns of the province.
Local authorities are now rushing to fortify dykes and pump water out of fields to prevent the autumn-winter rice crop from rotting and fruit orchards from being inundated.
