Flooding in Vietnam

Well, it’s raining in Da Nang again as I write this (Friday 1:30 PM 15 Nov 2007). The good news is that we seem to have de-escalated from relentlessly pounding, masonry wall penetrating downpours to intermittant showers. And that’s enough, in Da Nang at least, to let the water level go down. The recent flooding has been horrendous, even by Vietnamese standards, but things drain quickly once the insanely heavy downpours subside. There’s been a lot to damage to roads and railways by flash floods but, again, this is not a rare event here and repair crews set to work quickly and work fast. Hoi An almost always floods at some point each November, but it, too, drains quickly and people take it in stride.

Update:

Route 1 and the trains running both north and south from Da Nang are now operational. Route 14 (the Ho Chi Minh Trail Highway) in the highlands, however, has been devastated: landslides cover some parts and other sections of pavement have been torn out by the flood waters. More rain, along with possible additional flooding, has been forecast for this weekend. 

Valockett

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