Tropical storm Nari, to hit Vietnam & Cambodia

Tropical storm Nari, which made landfall in the Philippines on October 12 and is approaching Vietnam, is forecast to bring torrential rain to 13 of Cambodia’s 24 cities and provinces from October 16-18.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has issued a warning to fishermen and cruise ships of possible rising water levels in the Mekong River.
Over the past four weeks, floods have taken the lives of 122 people and affected 1.5 million others across the country.
It damaged 250,000 hectares of rice fields and more than 400 kilometres of roads in 20 cities and provinces nationwide.
As many as 22,000 families have evacuated to higher land.-VNA

Vietnam to endure seven storms in 2010

"The rainy and stormy season in 2010 is forecasted to develop in a very complicated manner, speculated a senior weather forecaster.

Natural rhythms have been unusual, with an early tropical depression that moved from Binh Thuan to Soc Trang in January.

Bui Minh Tang, Director of the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting, revealed that 6-7 storms and tropical depressions will hit Vietnam this year, the same as in 2009.

Yet natural rhythms have been unusual, Tang observed, with an early tropical depression that moved from Binh Thuan to Soc Trang in January.

He also commented that floods on northern rivers, as well as in the central regions, will be less serious and arrive late.

The largest flood is forecast to appear in major northern rivers in late July and August 2010. The largest in rivers in Thanh Hoa and Binh Thuan provinces is predicted for August and September, with Nghe An to Quang Binh and central highlands’ rivers expected to flood in September and October. Other floods are forecast in Quang Tri to Binh Thuan for October and November and in Tien and Hau Rivers for late September to early October.

Floods will also be higher on average than last year.

Tan warned people to be vigilant against sudden floods, storms and landslides in the mountainous areas."

Flash floods leave at least 38 dead or missing in Vietnam : Environment

Photo:Chuck Kuhn Photography
Flash floods leave at least 38 dead or missing in Vietnam : Environment: "Hanoi - Three days of flash floods have killed at least 20 people, left 18 missing and damaged many homes and roads in northern Vietnam, the country's Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control said Monday. Thirteen people were killed when landslides buried their homes following heavy rains Friday night in Bac Kan province.

Heavy rains started on Friday and were still falling on Monday, hitting the six northern provinces of Bac Kan, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Son La.

The rain swept away crops and houses, caused landslides and disrupted traffic.

Local television and Vietnam Television on Monday broadcast pictures showing many houses flooded to their roofs.

The state-run Vietnam News on Monday reported many districts in these provinces had been completely cut off due to washed out roads, and severed electricity and telephone lines.

Rescue teams were deployed to some isolated communities to evacuate flood victims.

Vietnam's Central Hydro-Meteorological Forecast Center said the floods were caused by rainfall topping between 100 and more than 250 millimeters in some areas in three nights since Friday.

The center said that the heavy rains would continue, so water levels in rivers such as the Red River would continue to rise"

Tropical storm to hit Vietnam

"HANOI - A STRONG tropical storm is forecasted to slam into Vietnam's southern coast late on Monday, bringing heavy rains to its central and southern provinces which may disrupt the country's coffee harvest, state-run radio said.
Storm Noul was moving fast and its damage could be huge, given it would land in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where residents have little experience fighting storms, the Voice of Vietnam radio said in an urgent bulletin.
The storm could disrupt oil and gas production off Vietnam's southern coast while heavy rains may halt the coffee harvest about to peak in the country's Central Highlands. -- REUTERS"

Fresh floods in Northern Vietnam-

Three people including a 13-year-old boy were killed in fresh floods in northern Vietnam while the death toll in the wake of tropical storm Kammuri rose to 119, disaster officials said on Wednesday.
The new floods had occurred in several districts of Quang Ninh province, east of Hanoi.
Provincial disaster official Le Thanh Nam told AFP that heavy rains had been reported there since Tuesday, causing some accidents.
"We are trying to find two other missing people in a boat capsize accident," he said.
Meanwhile rescuers searching for survivors of weekend floods further north triggered by Kammuri found six bodies on Tuesday, while another 40 remained missing, the national flood and storm control committee added.
They were continuing to search but had little hope of finding anyone alive.
Heavy rains, followed by flash floods and landslides in Vietnam's northern mountainous provinces since late Friday have destroyed 798 houses.
Some 17,800 other buildings were flooded and damaged while 15,200 hectares of crops were wiped out, the committee said.
Vietnam suffers hundreds of deaths every year as a result of floods and storms which often hit between July and November.

Central region: 10 million people struggling with floods

photo by Chuck Kuhn

Annually, land between Thanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces suffers 65% of the total typhoons, floods, and tropical depressions in Vietnam. How to mitigate the misfortunes of citizens in these areas was the matter discussed by experts at a recent workshop in the central city of Da Nang.

According to the Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Control, typhoons and floods cause losses equivalent to 1% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP). The central region, with around 10 million, suffers the heaviest losses. Last year three floods killed 167 people, forced nearly 60,000 families to evacuate, and damaged more than 60,000ha of crops in the region.

There is a paradox that the rainfall didn’t increase but floods got more serious year on year. According to the Central Region Hydrometeorology Station, the average rainfall on major rivers like Vu Gia and Thu Bon of Quang Nam province was 1,300mm/day during the flood in November 1999, double that of the flood in early November 2007. However, the flood in 2007 was 0.2-0.5m higher than that in 1999.

Experts say people are harming themselves. Statistics by the forest sector show that Vietnam loses around 100,000ha of forest each year on average, which causes floods.

Another reason, according to Vice Chairman of Da Nang city, Tran Phuoc Chinh, is the upgrade and expansion of national highways, such as 1A, 14B, and the North-South railways, which prevent water drainage, resulting in longer floods.

The construction of coastal residential areas, tourist sites, hotels and resorts is the third reason as they change the flows of rivers, narrow seaports, etc.

Experts suggest that policy makers amend construction plans and build shelters from floods and storms for people in the central region.

In December 2007, the government assigned the Ministry of Construction to design a living-with-flood project for central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment and the administrations of 11 related provinces must cooperate with the Ministry of Construction to implement this project.

(Source: VNE)

20 magnetic storms to hit Vietnam this year

2008 is forecast to be a quiet year for magnetic storms but around 20 will still hit Vietnam, said a senior scientist at the Institute of Geophysics.

Dr. Ha Duyen Chau, Deputy Director of the Institute of Geophysics, said the cycle of magnetic storms is 11 years. 2001 was the year of the greatest storms so 2011-2012 will be when storms are next at their strongest. “At that time around 40-50 magnetic storms will hit Vietnam a year, including very strong ones,” he said.

He said so far this year several magnetic storms have come but they were weak so didn’t affect Vietnam.

“Magnetic storms can be foreseen but Vietnam can’t observe them. Vietnam only uses data of other countries and it can record magnetic storms when they come,” the scientist added.

The strongest magnetic storm recorded in Vietnam is one in 1989. This storm coincided with a storm in Quebec (Canada), which broke the whole 550KV power transmission network of Canada, causing losses of billions of USD.

In Hanoi, the most powerful magnetic storm was recorded in 2001.

Chau said magnetic storms can affect people’s health, especially the hearts and the nervous systems of sensitive people, high voltage power transmission lines and oil and gas pipes as well as satellites.

Statistics of the Institute of Geophysics show that 1989 saw the highest number of magnetic storms with 44, and there were 40 in 2000, 27 in 2004, and 15 in 2006.