Dozens of households in a southern Vietnamese province were evacuated late on Sunday as a local irrigation lake overflowed after prolonged heavy rain.

The Gia Hoet Lake, in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Chau Duc District, had 20 meters of its overflow channel collapse on Saturday due to heavy downpours.

The overflow channel is designed to lead water out of the lake once it reaches its capacity of over four million cubic meters.

Water levels inside the lake reached as high as 140 meters on Saturday, well over its safety height of 137.5 meters.

As rain continued on Sunday, water from Gia Hoet then overflowed into lower land areas and into one local neighborhood in particular.

Dozens of households in Chau Duc had their homes and gardens filled by floodwater.

Crops grown by local residents are damaged by overflowing water from the Gia Hoet Lake. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The district administration and military men were called in to help evacuate locals to higher ground.

According to Le Thanh Liem, head of Chau Duc’s agriculture and rural development division, as many as 20 households were evacuated to safety.

No casualties have been reported, but around 18 hectares of crops were destroyed in the flooding, according to official reports.

Local authorities help evacuate people and property out of the danger zone. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Local authorities help evacuate people and property out of the danger zone. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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