Flooding in Laos
The worst might be over for the lucky villages in Vientiane that were not damaged by the flood from the mighty Mekong River as of yesterday. Other towns along the river’s path have been devastated by the flood with major damages in Borikhamxay Province. Even my Grand-Mama’s village in Pakse has been affected by the flood and many rice fields are all covered in water. This is a bad thing for those farmers that lost their crops before harvest time because they were not able to salvage any of the rice unlike last year when the flood came later.
Below are the news broadcast on Lao National Television about the flooding in Vientiane and the rest of Laos.
Morning News on August 15
Morning News on August 16
Morning News on August 18
Hi Darly, sorry to hear about the flooding at your Grandma’s town. We also have relatives in Vientiane, but they are lucky as they are not in the flood zone.
I hope the people are able to get the help and support they need in time.
Better go back to building traditional house. Now we know why our ancestors built those house on stilts. Maybe this one of the reason.
Hi Salat,
Fortunately the water has not reached my Grand-Mama’s house yet and if it does then Pakse Airport would be under water too since it is in a straight path. The relatives that are living by the river however are under water and won’t be harvesting any rice this year. That means no khao mao for the relatives in the US also. Usually they make khao mao and save it for us so when we go visit them they can give us khao mao as gift.
The authorities were prepared for the flood but the recovery could take some time. Those with relatives abroad that are willing to help are in a better position to cope with this tragedy.
Hi Dallas,
You are right about that. The tradition has many purposes and one was to keep from the heat and from flooding water. It is also to shelter the animals at night time like buffalo under the house. When the weather is hot then people would gather around under the house to stay cool.