Heavy rain exceeds forecast, people in Thua Thien-Hue are caught off guard

People were caught off guard.

Yesterday’s flood caused quite heavy damage to people and property. According to statistics from the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the flood caused serious damage to people and property in the Central provinces. Accordingly, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue had 2 deaths, 3 missing; hundreds of houses were flooded, and many traffic routes were cut off.

The Huong River water level rose above the alarm level 3, the entire city of Hue was surrounded by flood water.

Eight localities in TT-Hue province, including Hue city, Huong Thuy town, Huong Tra town and Phong Dien, Quang Dien, Phu Vang, Nam Dong, and Phu Loc districts, were flooded from 0.3 to 1.5 meters.

According to the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control of Thua Thien Hue province, the flood that occurred on November 15 caused 85% of roads in 36 wards and communes of Hue city to be flooded.

The roads in the North of the Perfume River such as Van Xuan, Chi Lang, Bach Dang, Mai Thuc Loan... are flooded by an average of 0.8-1.2m. The roads in the South of the Perfume River such as Hung Vuong, Truong Chinh, Tran Quang Khai, To Huu... are flooded by an average of 0.5-1m.

Because of being passive, when the whole city of Hue was surrounded by floodwaters, many people still waded through chest-high floodwaters to buy food and essential items. On many roads, dozens of cars were submerged by floodwaters.

People had to wade through chest-high floodwaters to get to the shopping mall to buy food.

At around 3:00 a.m. on November 15, authorities in Thua Thien-Hue province recorded that the floodwaters on the Huong River reached above alert level 3, surpassing the historical flood peak of 2020. The floodwaters poured in at night, leaving local residents unable to react.

“A few hours before the flood, through the Hue-S system, we only received a few notifications related to hydropower plants and reservoirs regulating water to cut off floods and ensure dam safety. No one thought that early in the morning, the entire city would be surrounded by floodwaters, traffic would be cut off, and vehicles would be submerged by floodwaters,” said Nguyen Xuan Q. (residing in Xuan Phu ward).

Some residents whose houses were heavily flooded in the center of Hue City said that the cause was partly due to inaccurate warnings and forecasts.

People's opinions are not without basis, because in fact, from November 13 to 10:00 a.m. on November 15, heavy rain and very heavy rain occurred in the province. In particular, Nam Dong district and some places in Phu Loc district had heavy rain, with common rainfall of 500-900mm, some places had higher rainfall such as: Xuan Loc, Phu Loc 1,111mm; Thuong Quang, Nam Dong 1,028mm; Huong Son; Binh Dien-Huong Tra Hydropower Plant 1,105mm, Bach Ma National Park 1,006mm.

A resident carrying a styrofoam box containing necessities bought from the supermarket wades home

Meanwhile, Mr. Dang Van Hoa - Chief of Office of the Provincial Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and Control said that the Provincial Hydrometeorological Station and related agencies forecast that from November 13 to 17, in Thua Thien Hue province, there will be periods of rainfall from 250-500mm.

The forecast for rainfall ranges from 250 to 500mm, but in reality, rainfall in some places has reached over 1,000mm and lasted continuously for many days. This has led many people to believe that the forecasting by authorities during this flood season is still limited.

Forecast not close?

It can be said that TT-Hue is one of many provinces in the Central region that regularly suffers heavy losses and consequences from floods. Many people compare the sudden increase in rainfall from upstream causing the river water to rise like a "swing" of natural disasters to challenge the forecasting ability of the government and functional agencies.

A series of people's cars could not move in time and were submerged by rapidly rising floodwaters. Photo: Quang Thanh

Flood forecasts that are not close to reality not only affect people but also create difficulties for the government and armed forces.

On the afternoon of November 15, the working delegation of the Standing Office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control had a working session with the leaders of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province.

At the meeting, Mr. Hoang Hai Minh - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province acknowledged that the forecast of rainfall during this period was not close to the actual situation.

According to Mr. Minh, during this flood, the locality has developed 3 response scenarios, but so far the flood situation has exceeded all scenarios. The amount of rain pouring into the reservoirs is very large, causing flood water on the rivers to rise rapidly, causing widespread flooding.

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