Heavy rain causes landslides in many main roads in Krông Nô District, Đắk Nông Province. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The central region is forecast to experience prolonged heavy rains and floods in the coming days due to a low-pressure system in the East Sea that may grow into a tropical depression.

At 4am yesterday, the eye of the low-pressure system was positioned at 13-14 degrees north latitude and 114.2-115.2 degrees east longitude, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The centre yesterday predicted the system would move west at 10km per hour.

At 1am today, the tropical depression system is predicted to be at about 13.5 degrees north latitude and 112.2 degrees east longitude, about 330km from the east of the coastal province of Bình Định to Khánh Hòa Province.

It is forecast that from October 6 to October 11, heavy rains will occur in central provinces with rainfall of 300-500mm, with rainfall from the central province of Hà Tĩnh to Quảng Ngãi Province predicted at 500-700mm.

After October 11, heavy rain is predicted to last for days.

The centre also warned that northern and northern central mountainous provinces will likely experience strong storms, lightning and winds.

"Heavy rain is forecast to occur from Hà Tĩnh central province to Bình Định Province. In some areas, the rainfall could be up to 1,500mm. This is a very dangerous situation," Trần Quang Hoài, deputy director of the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and head of the General Department for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said at a meeting yesterday.

He called on ministries, agencies and localities to respond to the tropical depression and heavy rain, ensuring safety for people and infrastructure. For coastal areas, localities should implement measures to ensure safety for aquaculture.

On the mainland, it was necessary to immediately check the sea dyke system, especially dykes in Nghệ An Province, Hoài said.

He asked localities to check the infrastructure system, residential areas in lowland areas and prepare evacuation plans to ensure safety.

The localities were told to have plans to operate the irrigation system to ensure safety for agricultural production and prepare food for livestock in case of heavy rain and floods that would last for many days.

Hoài also said reservoirs and dykes should be closely monitored.

Losses

Yesterday, Trần Đăng Ánh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Krông Nô District, Đắk Nông Province, said heavy rains in the past few days caused heavy damage in many localities.

Local agencies are focusing on supporting people to overcome the consequences of rains of 115-120mm from October 1 to 5 which submerged 40 houses and 500ha of crops.

Nearly 60ha of fish ponds were affected by floods, causing heavy losses for local farmers, while many main roads were eroded and some bridges were swept away by floodwaters.

According to local reports, total damage was estimated at nearly VNĐ50 billion (US$2.15 million).

Heavy rain on Monday night and yesterday morning also flooded some communes in Bát Xát District, Thanh Hóa Province.

Heavy rains caused floods and a landslide, killing one child in Bản Qua Commune, the local agriculture sector reported.

Floods also damaged four houses and dozens of hectares of crops.

There was serious traffic congestion in some highways due to landslides.

Local forces were mobilised to ensure traffic flow, safety for road users and help residents move their property to safety.

On Monday and yesterday, Ninh Thuận Province faced rainfall between 20 to 40mm. In some areas, rainfall reached 100-130mm.

With the unpredictable developments of rains and floods, the provincial steering committee for natural disaster prevention and search and rescue requested local authorities actively prepare plans to respond to floods and landslides.

The localities must keep a close watch on the weather to inform people and ensure safety for dykes and reservoirs to prevent floods downstream.

Coastal local authorities were asked to urgently inspect boats and notify the location of the low-pressure system to help fishermen stay safe. — VNS