Heavy rain triggered floods in several areas across the south-central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa, prompting the provincial Department of Education and Training to ask local students to stay home on Monday to ensure their safety.

The written request was sent to grassroots education and training units on Sunday night.

Accordingly, students of kindergartens, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, vocational centers, foreign language and information and technology establishments, as well as centers for other after-school activities in the province were exempted from school on Monday.

The school exemption may be extended depending on the weather and road conditions.

According to the south-central hydro-meteorological center, medium to heavy rains in Khanh Hoa started on Sunday and will continue through Tuesday.

Nineteen large reservoirs across the province with a total combined capacity of nearly 250 million cubic meters have retained more than 223 million cubic meters of water. Eight of them had to release floodwaters.

Rising water on the Cai River in Nha Trang City and the Dinh River in Ninh Hoa District, two major rivers in the province, reached 6.42 meters and 4.48 meters, respectively, which were only 1.58 meters and 0.52 meters below emergency levels.

A wing wall of an overflow bridge on the Trang River in Khanh Vinh District was swept away by floodwaters, the district’s deputy chairman Nguyen Van Thuan said on Sunday night.

The disaster prevention, search and rescue committee in Khanh Hoa requested districts and towns to examine and review areas at risk of landslides and floods to proactively implement response plans and evacuate people to safe places.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!