Floods in Vietnam rise to new levels

Though heavy rains and seasonal floods are common in South East Asia, as we have reported the monsoon season in 2008 has been uncommonly harsh, with tropical storms, flash floods and landslides killing hundreds of people throughout the region.

The Mekong River hit its highest level in at least a hundred years this August, after several months of unusually heavy rain. Last week saw some of the worst floods in Vietnam for more than a quarter of a century, where over 80 people have lost their lives.

The central and northern part of Vietnam have seen heavy rain falling constantly for a week with the capital Hanoi and local provinces suffering from severe flooding. More than 500 millimetres (20 inches) of rain has fallen on Hanoi since Friday, turning streets into rivers. Floodwaters have inundated more than 100,000 homes and destroyed nearly 600,000 acres of rice and vegetable crops. However the rains have moved south towards Khánh Hòa province and surrounding areas. The rainy season for this province is April to December and for Nha Trang, the capital of Khánh Hòa province, it is generally only two months long.

The Vietnamese climate varies drastically from region to region, due to differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief. Most rainfall occurs between May and October, during the southwesterly monsoon. At this time hot air rises over the Gobi desert and moist air is drawn inland from the sea. The wet weather being seen at the moment is due to the transition to the northeasterly monsoon, which lasts from November to April.

SOS Children's Village of Nha Trang, in Khánh Hòa province, which is not usually affected by the flood water is already 30 to 50 cm under watering implying that the neighbouring areas are severely affected. Do Tien Dung, the director of SOS Children Vietnam tells us even the nursery school and primary school are under water and the rain is not letting up.

Though all our children and students attending the SOS Nursery School and SOS Primary School are safe, with the children and mothers on the first floor above the water, electricity has been cut off and the school have been closed. Motorcycles and cars cannot move, school children have to be picked up by trucks or carts.

As ever with floods, once people are safe from the immediate affects the aftermath in terms of poverty and health are likely to be severe. We are monitoring this closely to see what help can be offered. SOS Children has children needing sponsorship in Vietnam.