Northern Vietnam left in path of destructive floods due to poor forecasting

Landslides claimed the lives of 18 people in the northern province of Hoa Binh on Thursday, and some people remain missing.

Survivors said they had seen rifts on the nearby mountain a week before, but no warnings or evacuation orders had been issued by authorities.

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Local government officials admitted that they had only foreseen the risk from rising floods, not the landslide, which was the worst recorded in Hoa Binh's history. The largest hydropower dam in Southeast Asia in the province also released record amounts of water last week as rainfall reached 500mm in 24 hours.

Forecasts were both inadequate and inaccurate. A weather forecast on Tuesday afternoon said water in the reservoir was going to rise by up to 3,800 cubic meters a second, but it turned out to be around three times more.

Flashfloods and landslides from a tropical depression killed at least 68 people in Hanoi, Hoa Binh, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Thanh Hoa, Son La and Yen Bai this week, according to a Saturday report from the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control. At least 34 others are missing.

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