The water level on Cầu River continues to rise as of October 9 afternoon, affecting numerous households in Hợp Thịnh Ward of Bắc Ninh Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI — Nearly 84,000 houses across the northern region remain submerged in historic floodwaters caused by Typhoon Matmo (Storm No.11) as of Thursday morning, a sharp drop from the more than 220,000 homes affected in previous days.

According to the Department of Dike Management and Disaster Prevention (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), Thái Nguyên Province remains the hardest-hit province with over 70,000 flooded houses, followed by Bắc Ninh Province with more than 11,000, Lạng Sơn with about 2,500, and a few dozen in Cao Bằng Province

Many national highways, provincial roads and rural routes remain under water or cut off, disrupting traffic, while train services on the Hà Nội–Đồng Đăng line have been suspended.

More than 210,000 households are still without electricity, with restoration efforts ongoing.

Although rainfall has eased across the North, river levels remain high. As of 5am, the Cầu River running across Thái Nguyên, Hà Nội, and Bắc Ninh stood 0.7-1.8m above the highest alarm level (Level 3), while the Thương River in Lạng Sơn and Bắc Ninh rose above historic flood levels recorded back in 1986.

The Cà Lồ River in Hà Nội was 1.28m above the Level-3 alarm, while the Đáy River in Ninh Bình Province measured slightly below. Over the next day, water levels on most rivers are expected to recede, except the Cầu River at Đáp Cầu Ward in Bắc Ninh, which is forecast to peak by Thursday afternoon.

Thursday’s data also showed that the consecutive impacts of typhoons Bualoi and Matmo have caused 76 dike incidents across the cities and provinces of Thái Nguyên, Phú Thọ, Hà Nội, Bắc Ninh, Hưng Yên, Thái Bình, Ninh Bình, Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh and Quảng Trị.

Currently, 28 hydropower reservoirs in the northern region are discharging water through spillways at rates of 100 cubic metres per second or higher. — VNS