Nan badly flooded as tropical storm dumps heavy rain
NORTHERN Nan province is being heavily pounded by continuous rainfall since last night as tropical storm Bebinca makes landfall south of Hanoi in Vietnam, Thai News Agency and Phys.org reported today (August 17, 2018).
Nan’s governor ordered all provincial agencies to closely watch and prepare for flooding and landslides after the Department of Water Resources issued a warning that 11 villages in Santisuk district had to be immediately evacuated.
Another 68 villages in Pua, Tha Wang Pha and Mueang districts are being closely watched.
As tropical storm Bebinca got near the Vietnamese coast it led to almost every area of Nan province being pounded with continuous rainfall from last night until today. The volume is as high as 150-200 millimeters.
This led to Yao river water level rising very quickly to the crisis 4.50-meter level, and overflowing and flooding homes and schools. As the floodwaters level in some schools is as high as 50 centimeters, they have been shut today.
One man, identified as Mr Sanid Netrathip, was electrocuted while collecting his possessions from his flooded house.
Meanwhile Phys.org said that tropical storm Bebinca showed powerful, heavy rain-making thunderstorms on infrared satellite imagery when NASA’s Terra satellite saw the storm along the northern Vietnam coast.
The Vietnam Hydrological Administration (VHA) has issued a tropical storm warning for coastal Vietnam.
Infrared light provides valuable temperature data to forecasters and cloud top temperatures give clues about highest, coldest, strongest storms within a tropical cyclone.
The infrared image of tropical storm Bebinca captured by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite showed cloud top temperatures of strong thunderstorms around the center and just off-shore. Those cloud tops were as cold as or colder than minus 62.2 Celsius (minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit). NASA research has shown that cloud tops that cold can produce heavy rainfall.
Bebinca had maximum sustained winds near 111 kph (60 knots/69 mph). It was located near 20.0 degrees north latitude and 107.3 degrees east longitude. That’s approximately 160 nautical kilometers (99 nautical miles) southeast of Hanoi, Vietnam. Bebinca has tracked toward the west and is expected to continue in that direction though landfall.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast calls for a landfall just south of Hanoi late yesterday or today (August 16 or early on August 17).
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Top: The infrared imagery of tropical storm Bebinca captured by NASA’s Terra satellite. Image: Phys.org
In-text and below: Heavy flooding in Nan today. Photo: Thai News Agency
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