THỪA THIÊN- HUẾ — Inundation in lowland areas in central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province continued on Thursday as floodwater from two floods that occurred earlier this week was receding very slowly and water level of the local rivers remained high.

The flooding prevented students in lowland communes in the province’s district of Phong Điền, Quảng Điền, Hương Trà and Phú Vang from going to school. Meanwhile, residents had to use boats to commute and their daily activities were severely disrupted. In particular, pregnant women and those with infants or families having to organise funerals were most affected.

In Quảng Điền District, the locality with lowest topography in the province, locals expect the inundation in the district could last for another 10 days as the entire area is flooded, including Tam Giang Lagoon, which serves as the natural reservoir for drainage of floodwater in the locality.

Trần Đình Trai, a resident in the district’s Quảng Phước Commune, predicted the inundation would last for a while. “With my experience, water receding slowly like this will result in inundation for at least the next 10 days. There is no hollow space for water to get drained,” he said.

Repeated floods have occurred in the provincc. A flood occurred again on Tuesday soon after floodwater from the previous flood on Sunday had receded from local residential areas.

Nine people were reported dead, including five who were swallowed by the strong current and the remaining drowned after falling from their boats. An expensive 200m dyke and road complex in Huế City, which was put into use in 2016 with total cost of VNĐ19 billion (US$836,500), was ruined with large sinkholes and cracks on its surface.

Hundreds of fish breeders on sections of the local Bồ River in Phong Điền, Quảng Điền and Hương Trà districts went bankrupt as the floods swept some of their cages away and killed fish, which were unable to survive in the dark yellow floodwater, in the remaining cages. These breeders started their fresh-water fish businesses following the mass fish deaths caused by the Formosa toxic spill in April 2016.

Nguyễn Chánh Thành, a breeder in Hương Trà, said only the banks could help by lending funds to the breeders to start a new breeding crop. “Otherwise, we will plead to the locality to try and escape paying the debt,” he said.

In Phú Lộc District, the floods facilitated erosion along the 4km coastline in Vinh Hải Commune. According to Nguyễn Hữu, the commune’s acting chairman, the strong current resulted in erosion of a part of the sandy coastline, creating a new sea mouth on the local coast.

On Thursday, the province authorities worked with the local Red Cross agency to supply locals in the inundated areas with food and other essential items. — VNS