HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Localauthorities in the Mekong Delta are taking measures to mitigate the impact offlooding caused by high tides during the annual flood season in the delta.

The delta’s provinces and Can Tho City have been severely affected by hightides over the past few days.

In Can Tho City, the municipal People’s Committee on Thursday held a meetingwith the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development about measuresto deal with flooding and high tides.

Nguyen Tan Nhon, deputy director of the city’s Department of Agriculture andRural Development, said high tides combined with heavy rains and floodwatersfrom the Mekong River had eroded many embankments in outlying areas andsubmerged streets in inner areas up to 50cm deep in water.

To deal with the flooding, the city’s Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment has set up search and rescue teams to prevent and control naturaldisasters. The teams are equipped with boats and other equipment for theirtasks.

Truong Quang Hoai Nam, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee,said the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and its Sub-departmentof Irrigation should strictly monitor hydrology forecasting information andpumping stations to withdraw floodwaters in farming areas, strengthen weakembankments, and prepare agricultural machines to harvest autumn-winter rice.

Local authorities should carry out comprehensive measures to prevent drowningby setting up safe sites for children in flooded areas and taking students toschool to ensure their safety, he said.

Floods have caused damage to 113 metres of embankments in Can Tho this year,affecting 37ha of rice fields and 91ha of vegetables and cash crops, reducingyields, according to the city’s Steering Committee for Natural DisasterPrevention and Control, Search and Rescue.

High tides have also caused 8.5 tonnes of fish and other aquatic species inponds to escape into rivers and canals.

In Bac Lieu province, high tides have inundated many areas, including more than10km of National Highway No. 1 in Gia Rai Town and Hoa Binh district sinceOctober 6.

Pham Van Toi, deputy head of the Giá Rai Town Economic Division, said thehighway had been submerged deeply two times a day when the tides were high,blocking traffic.

High tides have also entered freshwater areas, threatening rice fields andother vegetable planting areas, he said.

The Bac Lieu provincial People’s Committee has instructed local people toupgrade their homes’ foundations, and strengthen weak embankments.

In Tien Giang province, high tides have flooded many areas in Cai Be districtand My Tho city, leaving many fruit orchards submerged.

Tran Thanh Nhan of Cai Be district’s Hoa Khanh commune said his family had usedsoil to build embankments around his fruit orchard over the past few days.

“If an embankment is broken, I can’t do anything because the water leveloutside the embankment is about one metre higher than inside it,” he said.

The high tides have been the highest seen over the past 10 years, according tolocal farmers in Hoa Khanh.

The flooding level of the Mekong River in the delta is declining and willincrease again on October 18 when high tides are forecast, according to theNational Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting. – VNS/VNA