Since the middle of April, the heat wave has blanketed the region. Many provinces have suffered water shortage as salt intrusion has been severe in rivers. Of these, water plants have been short of water for treatment to meet residents’ demand in Da Nang city. If the salinity continues rising, the situation will get worse.
Ly Son island district of Quang Ngai province has seen fresh water supply shortage trouble local people. Residents in Binh An commune has been heavily affected because of the long lasting heat wave and damaged seawater desalination system. They have been forced to pay VND220,000 a cubic meter of fresh water transported from the mainland.
Deputy chairwoman of the district People’s Committee Pham Thi Huong said that the severe water shortage has occurred in the whole island, the seawater desalination system in Binh An commune has run for a long time and downgraded. Repair will be long and costly so the island authorities hope to get financial assistance to invest in a new system able to supply water for the entire island.
The wide spreading hot condition has sent residents and tourists to crowd breaches. During peak time, beaches are packed with swimmers such as Pham Van Dong, T18, T20 in Da Nang city, Tam Thanh in Quang Nam province, My Khe in Quang Ngai, Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh, Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen and others in Thua Thien-Hue and Binh Dinh provinces.
The hot and muggy weather has also imposed a threat of forest fire and irrigation water shortage for farming. The Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection in Thua Thien-Hue said that thousands of hectares of winter spring rice and nearly 500 hectares of peanut crops have been withered in the province.
According to the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center, the hot and muggy weather will be especially severe in the northern and central regions today, April 21. Temperatures will soar to 38-40 degrees and even top 40-41 degrees in places. It is forecast to start abating on April 22.
The southern region will see the mercury swing around 35-36 degrees until April 24. It will be above 35 degrees from noon to 4 p.m.
