It finally rains in Saigon, Mekong Delta after long dry spell
Monday, May 16, 2016, 18:27 GMT+7
Ho Chi Minh City and many provinces in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region reveled in a series of heavy rains on Sunday and Monday after a dry spell lasting months had left locals thirsting for water.
A 30-minute rain started early Monday morning in Long An Province before spreading to the neighboring provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre.
This has been the second rainy day in a row in the Mekong Delta region, driving away the recent heat wave and saving the crops of fruit farmers at the last minute.
The rain was a pleasant surprise to locals, who had been longing for the rainy season to save their crops from the prolonged drought and salinization that began in March.
Dinh Van Quang, a farmer in Mo Cay Bac District, Ben Tre, said the “precious” rain had saved his nearly 2.5 acres of grapefruit farmlands.
“I haven’t been able to water my crops for the last couple of months since the water has been salinized. Just as I thought all the withering trees would die, they were saved by the rain,” Quang said delightedly.
According to the Ben Tre Province Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the rain has dragged the average temperature of the region from 37oC (98.6oF) down to 32-33oC (89.6-91.4oF).
The center also advised farmers not to expect more rain until the start of the rainy season in the second half of June, and that other technical methods should be adopted to protect the crops from salinization.
Meanwhile, a downpour was recorded in several areas of Ho Chi Minh City at around 3:50 pm on Monday, ending the heat wave that had scorched the city for months.
Le Thi Xuan Lan, a weather pundit based in the city, said the rains that have come down in the last two days in many Mekong Delta provinces serve as a signal of the coming rainy season.
According to Lan, there is still not enough evidence to say for certain whether the rainy season has arrived, as southwesterlies have not been observed and the amount of rain recorded in the past days is still too small to call.
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