Northern and North Central irrigation systems respond to storm No. 3

On July 18, the Department of Irrigation Works Management and Construction, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment issued a telegram on ensuring the safety of irrigation works, preventing flooding and inundation due to heavy rains affected by storm No. 3 (storm WIPHA) in provinces and cities in the Northern and North Central regions.

To proactively respond to heavy rains caused by storm WIPHA, ensure the safety of irrigation works and prevent flooding, waterlogging, and minimize damage caused by heavy rains, the Department of Irrigation Works Management and Construction requests agencies and units to strictly implement Official Dispatch No. 4498/CD-BNNMT dated July 17, 2025 of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment on responding to tropical depressions near the East Sea that are likely to strengthen into storms.

Xe culvert of Bac Hung Hai irrigation system is an important project in flood drainage of the whole system.

Units inspect and review key projects at risk of incidents when there is heavy rain to proactively deploy plans to respond to heavy rain, ensuring the safety of the projects; pay special attention to the safety of damaged irrigation reservoirs, reservoirs under construction, small reservoirs that are full of water and pay attention to deep works, underground works, diversion works; be ready to evacuate people, machinery, and construction equipment at risk of being affected... For important irrigation reservoirs that do not ensure safety, it is necessary to consider limiting water storage or not storing water.

At the same time, review and delimit areas at risk of flooding and waterlogging and have specific response plans suitable to terrain characteristics, rainfall conditions and capacity of irrigation works to drain water.

Units organize pumping and draining buffer water in the irrigation system in accordance with rain forecast information; when heavy rain occurs with the risk of flooding, irrigation works must be urgently operated to drain water.

The Department of Irrigation Construction and Management requires the operation of reservoirs according to approved operating procedures. For reservoirs with flood discharge gates, based on rain forecasts, the reservoir water level should be adjusted to proactively receive floods, ensuring absolute safety of the works and not releasing unusual floods that could endanger downstream areas. Special attention should be paid to the operating and water storage procedures for reservoirs under construction or completed but not yet handed over.

Strictly implement early warning for downstream people before reservoir discharge and when there is a risk of an incident.

The Department of Irrigation Construction and Management also proposed to organize 24/7 on-duty during times of rain and floods; arrange permanent personnel at construction sites at risk of incidents; promptly handle unusual situations according to the "four on-site" motto when there is a construction incident.

According to the forecast bulletin of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 1:00 p.m. on July 18, the center of the storm was located at about 18.3 degrees North latitude; 123.5 degrees East longitude, in the sea northeast of Luzon Island (Philippines). The strongest wind near the center of the storm is level 8-9 (62-88 km/h), gusting to level 11; moving northwest at a speed of about 30 km/h. Forecasted developments of the storm in the next 24 to 72 hours, the storm will move west and west-northwest at about 20-25 km/h into the East Sea and is likely to strengthen.

According to VNA

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/he-thong-thuy-loi-bac-bo-va-bac-trung-bo-ung-pho-voi-bao-so-3-postid422183.bbg