On September 17, the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) announced that due to the influence of the aftermath of Storm No. 3, large water flows had entered the hydroelectric reservoirs in the North. The country’s hydroelectric reservoirs are currently opening spillway gates to regulate water levels as directed by the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and the provincial-level Steering Committees for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
The water flow into the reservoirs has been decreasing. As of 10 am on September 17, the following hydroelectric plants have closed all spillway gates as instructed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: Tuyen Quang, Lai Chau, Ban Chat, Huoi Quang, Son La, and Hoa Binh.
Thac Ba hydroelectric plant maintains two open spillway gates
As of 5 pm on September 17, the following reservoirs were still regulating water levels by opening spillway gates: Thac Ba (2 gates), Trung Son (3 gates), and Ban Ve (2 gates).
According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 4 pm on September 17, the center of the tropical depression was located at approximately 16.8 degrees north latitude and 117.3 degrees east longitude, in the eastern part of the northern area of the East Sea, about 620 km east of the Hoang Sa Archipelago. The strongest winds near the center of the tropical depression were at level 7, with gusts reaching level 9. The depression was moving mainly in a westward direction at a speed of about 25-30 km/h.
It is forecast that in the next 24 to 48 hours, the tropical depression may strengthen into a storm, the fourth of the year, with wind speeds reaching levels 8-9 and gusts of up to levels 10-11.
Mr. Nguyen Van Huong, Head of Weather Forecasting, National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said that as of the present (5 pm on September 17), there is a 70% possibility that the storm will move into the sea area from Thanh Hoa to Quang Ngai provinces.
Another possibility is that the storm will move entirely to the northern part of the Gulf of Tonkin, and there is a small chance (less than 15%) that it will move to the sea area of the South Central Coast.
Power restored to 99% of customers affected by the storm and floods
According to EVN, as of the afternoon of September 17, electricity has been restored to more than 6.03 million customers out of a total of about 6.1 million affected by the storm and floods (equivalent to a rate of nearly 99%).
In Quang Ninh province, electricity has been basically restored to cities and districts, with more than 85% of the load recovered.
