Erosion eats away land along 100 km of central Vietnam’s coastline

The Vietnam Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said Monday that most of the erosion occurred during October under impacts of storms Son Ca and Nesat that approached the central region a few days apart in mid-October.

Compared to the first 10 months, the length of the eroded areas has expanded by 40 kilometers.

Among affected localities, Phu Yen Province is hit hardest with 12 eroded spots stretching 33 kilometers in total, followed by Quang Ngai with 13 spots measuring a combined 15 kilometers.

Of the eroded spots, 33 are considered “especially dangerous” as they could directly damage the embankment and threaten residents.

Nguyen Van Hai, deputy head of the authority, said erosion has increased in both scale and frequency in both coastal and riverine areas.

He blamed climate change, which has resulted in more powerful storms and record-level rains, and rising sea levels.

Yet human impacts should also be taken into consideration as “we have developed the socio-economy too fast without ensuring sustainability, excessively interfering with nature, encroaching on river beds, while changing the rules of nature,” he said.

In the year to date, six storms and two tropical depressions have entered Vietnamese waters.

Of them, storm Son Ca, which devolved into a tropical depression offshore on Oct. 14, caused “historic” downpours in Da Nang, dumping 795 millimeters rainfall from 7 p.m. on Oct. 14 to 6 a.m. on Oct. 15 and caused the “worst flooding” ever in the city.