By Xinhua,
Hanoi : Vientiane authorities were scrambling to build a sandbag wall against potential floods as the Mekong River water level has exceeded the city’s flood danger line, Lao newspaper Vientiane times reported on Thursday.
The Mekong River water level rose to 13.26m in Vientiane Wednesday morning due to continued rainfall in the past few days, above the 12.5m of flood danger line of the city. Meteorology and Hydrology Department officials say Vientiane will be flooded if the river height exceeds 14m.
The Vientiane Flooding and Drought Prevention Committee’s Secretariat Head Vilasack Nammounty said the committee has increased the number of sandbags in the city from 400,000 to two million.
“Whatever happens, we have to protect Vientiane from the overflowing water,” he said.
People from all government sectors have been working around the clock for the past three days to prevent Vientiane from being inundated with water.
The water levels are higher than the most severe flood in Vientiane history in 1966. In that year the river level was just over 12m.
The water level of rivers across Laos rose in the past few days due to heavy rainfall. Some parts of the country has already been flooded. No death toll was mentioned in the report.