Several people have died following landslides in northern Vietnam caused by heavy rainfall and flash floods over the weekend, media reported.
A local government official was quoted saying that an explosion-like noise was first heard on May 19 from the top of a mountain in rural Ba Bể district in Bắc Kạn, a province north of Hanoi, before “soil, rock and water poured down from the mountain.” At least four people were killed in Ba Bể while one person was still missing and large areas of farmlands were damaged.
The northern region of Vietnam has experienced thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in the past couple of days due to a combination of low-pressure areas and southeast winds, VnExpress, an online Vietnamese publication, reported.
Even more rain is expected in the northern region this week, with forecasters predicting 100-350 millimeters (4-14 inches) of rainfall in some areas.
“This year, due to a combination of neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions and the continued impact of climate change, intense localized downpours with rainfall rates exceeding 100 mm per hour are expected to occur frequently during the rainy season,” the department of meteorology and hydrology was quoted as saying in Tuổi Trẻ, a Vietnamese publication.
Like other countries in the region, Vietnam is exposed to tropical cyclones, which cause flash floods and landslides. Although such storms typically come between June and November each year, Agence France-Presse cited experts saying that climate change is causing more intense weather patterns. In 2024, the number of people in Vietnam who died due to natural disasters increased three times to 514 compared with 2023, the agriculture ministry was quoted as saying.
Super Typhoon Yagi, which struck Vietnam in September 2024, left more than 300 people dead or missing.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Nguyễn Hoàng Hiệp told local media that
“abnormal weather patterns” are expected this year as different parts of the country have already seen heavy rains ahead of the rainy season.
He reminded local authorities to improve drainage systems to prevent flooding and to be quick in issuing evacuation warnings. He also mentioned the importance of tree maintenance, from pruning large trees in urban areas to planting species that can withstand strong winds.
In China, too, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces saw the deaths of at least five people due to severe rain and flooding in the mountains over the weekend, international media reported.
In Guangdong, a landslide hit a three-story building, resulting in three deaths. Three other people who were rescued remain in the hospital but are not in critical condition. More than a hundred people were deployed to search for a missing person.
Banner image of a 2018 flood in Vietnam (for representation only) by Eleveneighteen via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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