Mekong prepares for first flood of the season

Source: Vietnam News (1-08-2004)

The southern region will bear the brunt of the first flood of the season, as the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said water levels are rising upstream along the Mekong River.

The highest water levels were recorded yesterday at 2.08m on the Tien River in Tan Chau and 1.55m on the Hau River in Chau Doc in An Giang Province.  The center said floods will continue over the next five days, reaching 3m, the first warning level.  After that, water levels are expected to rise slowly.

Nguyen Viet Thi, director of the Hydrography Forecasting Department belonging to the center, said this year, flood has come later than in previous years, when high waters interfered with the main harvest season.  He predicted this flood would have little effect on crops, as well as humans, if water levels stay around 3m.

Thi said most residents in flood-prone areas have already moved to higher ground of at least 5m.  He said paddy fields in the border areas of the south and the Long Xuyen Quadrangle Zone may be vulnerable to flooding.