Nearly 1,000 hectares of rice fields in Hung Nguyen district were flooded due to heavy rain.

Hung Nguyen is one of the localities with the latest summer-autumn rice harvest progress in the province. The reason is that the recent prolonged drought has caused many rice fields to develop slowly, bloom late, and therefore the harvest time has been extended.

Large areas of rice paddies in Hung Thong and Hung Trung communes (Hung Nguyen district), currently in the harvesting stage, have been severely flooded. Photo: Quang An

In Hung Nguyen district, there are 4,300 hectares of summer-autumn rice, but currently only more than half of the area has been harvested. The remaining 1,800 hectares, which are in the harvesting period, have been affected by heavy rains, with about 800 hectares of rice fields currently flooded.

Currently, water levels are high in the communes of Hung Tay, Hung Yen Nam, Hung Yen Bac, Hung Thong, Hung Xuan, Hung Tien, etc. If the rain continues as forecast, the flooded area will expand further, posing a high risk of crop failure.

Leaders of Hung Nguyen district inspect flooded areas. Photo: Kieu Hoa

Hung Yen Bac is one of the localities in Hung Nguyen that frequently experiences flooding. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huu, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Yen Bac commune, said: "The entire commune has 260 hectares of summer-autumn rice, but only 30 hectares have been harvested so far. Over 200 hectares that were ready for harvest have been affected by heavy rain and cannot be harvested yet. This morning (September 4th), 50 hectares of rice in hamlets 7A and 7B were submerged, and it is expected that more rice fields will be flooded if the heavy rain continues."

In response to this situation, the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district inspected and directed communes at high risk of flooding to focus on dredging canals and clearing waterways to minimize damage.

The most urgent task now is to drain the flooded rice fields promptly. The district has directed irrigation enterprises to focus on pumping out water, especially at the Hung Chau pumping station, which currently has 4 pumps with a capacity of 32,000 m³/hour, hoping to drain the entire flooded area in the central part of the district in a timely manner.

Mr. Hoang Duc An - Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Hung Nguyen District

The Hung Chau water treatment plant is releasing water to combat flooding at a capacity of 32,000 m³/hour. Photo: Quang An

Currently, several hydropower plants in Nghe An province have announced flood releases. Therefore, Hung Nguyen district has instructed communes along the Lam River dike to raise the alert level for residents because it is predicted that in the next 1-2 days, flood-prone communes such as Hung Nhan, Hung Lam, etc., will be severely flooded.