A road in Ninh Phú Commune in Khánh Hòa Province’s Ninh Hòa Town is inundated on Monday morning. VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Dũng

HÀ NỘI – Storm Nakri has been downgraded to a tropical depression after it approached shores between central provinces of Phú Yên and Khánh Hòa on Sunday night, but rain is forecast to continue hitting the central region and Central Highlands for the next couple of days.

As of 8am on Monday, although there were no human losses due to the direct impact of the storm, two people are reported to have died in Phú Yên and Bình Định provinces due to accidents while reinforcing their houses, according to the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Khánh Hòa is the locality that suffered the most with 350ha of rice and cash crops inundated and 10 cages of aquaculture affected. The storm has affected 100m of channels and causing landslides along 40m of road.

As of 6am on Monday, electricity has been restored to 53 out of 112 communes which suffered blackouts the previous day.

Speaking at a meeting held on Monday, Nguyễn Đức Quang, deputy chief of office of the Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, proposed the affected localities assess the damage caused by the storm.
They were urged to restore the electricity in Phú Yên and ensure environmental sanitation. They were also asked to actively cope with the tropical depression and floods in the coming days.

The localities were requested to inspect areas at risk of flash floods and landslides and be proactive in evacuating people and adopt safety measures.

It was necessary to closely monitor the weather and the operation of reservoirs to ensure the safety of the projects as well as meeting the demand of water source for electricity production and cultivation.

Mai Văn Khiêm, director of the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forcasting, said under the influence of the tropical depression, medium to heavy rain would impact provinces from Quảng Bình to Bình Định until Tuesday. Particularly, it would produce rainfall accumulation of up to 150mm in 24 hours in Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi provinces.

Downpours due to Nakri have resulted in high water levels in rivers, reservoirs and irrigation system.

As of 6am on Monday, the water level on Kỳ Lộ River was 8.55m and on Dinh River 5.16m, surpassing the flood warning level 2.

It is forecast that the floods on some rivers including Kôn and Ba rivers will continue to rise in the next few days.

The risk of landslides was high in mountainous and low-lying areas in Bình Định and Phú Yên provinces. — VNS