At 10.00 on the 15th of September, 2017, Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in Ha Tinh province, central Vietnam. Bring wind speeds of up to 133 km an hour. Doksuri is the worst typhoon to hit the country in almost a decade. As well as causing extensive damage and putting human life at risk the typhoon rains have also battered northern Vietnam. The water level at Dong Mo Lake near Hanoi has risen drastically and there is a need to open the dam gates to release a significant volume of water. The lake is also home to the world’s rarest turtle, Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) and the Asian Turtle Program (ATP) of Indo Myanmar Conservation (IMC) has worked with local lake owners to place additional nets to prevent the escape of the turtle. Two permanent nets are kept in place and one was recently replaced by the ATP, today the lake owners have also been working despite the bad weather to install an additional three nets, bring the total to five . In November 2008, an unusually heavy rain storm destroyed a dam under construction on Dong Mo lake and resulted in the escape of the giant softshell turtle.As the bad weather brought by the typhoon continues, Nguyen Tai Thang of the ATP is continuing to monitor the situation and waiting to hear when
if the dam will be opened. “The situation here is tense, we have the nets in place, but every time the dam is opened we are worried about the turtle’s safety”, said Thang.
We hope to report the safe passage of the storm shortly and hope that those in Vietnam remain safe from what is being reported to be a devastating typhoon.
Press release by: Timothy McCormack & Hoang Van Ha – ATP/IMC
Date: 16th September 2017
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