People living near Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant in the central province of Quang Nam have been worrying about their safety as the flood season comes. Recently, due to the impact of tropical storms, Bac Tra My District in Quang Nam Province have seen heavy rains which threaten Song Tranh 2 Hydropower dam. The water level at the dam is already high. Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant opened six water discharge gates in case of a large-scale flood. Ho Thi Lan, whose house is situated less than 1km from the dam's foot, said since early September despite having no earthquakes, local households have been anxious about the flooding. These days, the water level at the dam has been rising because of the heavy rain in spite of it not being the peak flooding season. Another resident, Nguyen Thi Lieu, from Tra Doc Commune said, “We have had to struggle with the effects of the earthquakes for some time. Last year, my house had some cracked walls, but we only received the support of VND2 million ($95.23) compared up to the dozens of millions of VND spent for repair activities.” Ho Van Loi, Chairman of Tra Doc Commune People’s Committee said, “Hundreds of local homes have seen cracks that have not yet been repaired. The financial assistance for these households is very modest.” Huynh Ngoc Thieu, Head of Bac Tra My District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said recently Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant had encounter the biggest flooding since the earthquake. Between September and November 2012, Song Tranh 2 Hydro-power Plant saw more than 70 earthquakes of different scale, causing great losses for local people. (dtinews.vn Sept 23)
