Ok ... here's Steph's response:
Re the flooding... essentially, last Weds/Thurs the Mekong threatened to burst its banks and in fact did in a few places with riverside bars washed away in some cases in central Vientiane. But the levels have dropped again now so roads are open again etc. (Actually, two roads are closed but no affect for tourists really) Some friends of mine who live very close to the river were evacuated for a couple of nights and my house (close, but a little further than theirs) was told to pack our stuff up off the ground and have a bag ready to go in case we had to evacuate at the last minute. That came to nothing thankfully.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next month or so though. The last recorded flooding was in 2002 (their technical definition of flooding certainly doesn't have the whole town under water, definitely still fine to come) and in that year, there were two large spikes in the water level graph. So we have had one spike and a second is not out of the question if the trend continues. Our first spike came earlier than the one in 02.
Relevant to tourists though, depending on mode of arrival is that the area around the airport flooded and did affect flights. The airport itself was ok but surrounding areas not! The govt has done stacks of sandbagging which they are leaving in place now in case a second spike comes so at least that work is already done. And it takes 24 hours for water to get from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, so you get plenty of warning.
The Mekong River Commission was issuing daily updates during the peak periods. www.mrcmekong.org They have stopped for now but will recommence if necessary. It was hard though, we were getting alerts from MRC, Aus Embassy, UN etc and they weren't always singing from the same hymn book!
More info in this recent press statement below may help.
Have probably bored you to tears, sorry! Hope it helps our fellow travellers though! S
< PRESS RELEASEx00x00 MRC No. 12/08
>
> Press Statement on Current MekongFlood Situationx00x00
>
> Vientiane, Lao PDR
>
> 15 August, 2008x00x00
>
> On Friday, 15 August 08 water levels receded in Luang Prabang and receded
> slightly in Vientiane. They are predicted to fall significantly over the
> weekend at these stations, although as the flood waters move south it is
> likely that water levels will reach at least alarm stage in southern Lao
> PDR, Cambodiaand Viet Namlater in the coming week.
>
> The observed peak water level in Vientianereached 13.68m, which exceeded
> the 1966 flood level (12.69m) by almost one meter. Prior to this, the
> highest water level observed was 12.66m in 1924.
>
> Areas of Luang Prabang, Vientianeand Nong Khai have been flooded, as have
> been rural areas of Lao PDR and Thailand. However, the city centre of
> Vientianehas avoided inundation. This is because following the 1966 event
> which flooded large areas of the city a raised earthen dyke was constructed
> to protect Vientiane. This has managed to contain the 2008 flood water,
> although water levels did reach the top of the dyke in some areas.
> Effective emergency works by the government reinforced the dykes with
> sandbags which avoided significant further inundation. Similar structural
> and emergency measures have been taken in Thailand.
>
> This current flood is a combination of the following. The northern parts of
> the Mekongbasin have experienced significantly above average rainfall
> during the first months of the monsoon season which saturated the river
> catchments, providing increased flood runoff. These conditions resulted in
> high river levels than usual and were compounded by tropical storm Kammuri
> over the weekend 8-10 August 2008. Kammuri brought intense and prolonged
> rainfall to the northern basin. In the case of the flood water that reached
> Vientianesome 50%!o(MISSING)riginated in Chinaand the rest in Lao PDR from large
> tributaries such as the Nam Ou and the NamKhan.
>
> The current water levels are entirely the result of the meteorological and
> hydrological conditions and were not caused by water release from presently
> operating Chinese dams which have storage volumes far too small to affect
> the flood hydrology of the Mekong.
>
> The MRC's most northern monitoring station in the lower Mekong basin is at
> Chiang Saen in Thailand. Early warning data are also received from the
> Jinghong station, some 340km further upstream in PR China which is
> downstream of one of PR China's major mainstream dams. Both of these
> stations and the wider MRC mainstream measurement stations network, were
> established under the Appropriate Hydrological Network Improvement Project
> (AHNIP), supported by Australia, which established 18 such stations
> overall.
>
> The time it takes the water to travel from these stations is as follows.
> Jinghong to Chiang Saen 21 hours; Chiang Saen to Luang Prabang 17 hours;
> and Luang Prabang to Vientiane/Nong Khai 24 hours. This enables short term
> flood forecasting which in turn allows the MRC to issue advance notice of
> extreme water levels to concerned agencies.
>
> The MRC has estimated that should safety releases from operating hydropower
> schemes or current construction sites in PR China be necessary, this would
> raise water levels by a maximum of 0.40m in Luang Prabang within 2 days,
> and by a maximum of 0.30m in Vientianewithin 3 days of the release.
>
> How the MRC's system works
>
> The MRC currently issues daily flood forecasts and warnings during the
> June-November flood season taking its data from 21 forecast locations on
> the MekongRiversystem. It disseminates these bulletins daily by fax,
> e-mail, or via the MRC web page (www.mrcmekong.org) to National Mekong
> Committees, line agencies, selected disaster preparedness and
> non-government organisations, and the public.
>
> National hydrological and meteorological line agencies also monitor
> tributary systems in their own countries and post these measurements on
> their own websites or disseminate them through chosen methods daily.
> National Agencies issue public alerts and warnings and mobilise action. The
> MRC provides the data on which they can make these decisions.
>
> The MRC's flood forecasting and warning system is part of its Flood
> Management and Mitigation Programme which is supported by the ADB, Denmark,
> the EC, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and the USA x00x00 x00x00
>
> For more information, please contact: Aiden Glendinning,
> ActingCommunications Officer.
>
>
> Australian Embassy, Vientiane
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