Mekong River flooding

Rain and floods killed more than 130 people in northern Vietnam and Laos last week and more bad weather is expected along the Mekong River until the end of September, according to the Mekong River Commission. While water levels are receding, several communities in Laos remain submerged and major towns and cities lost power and transportation. This comes rising pressure on food prices, which has hit Laos, along with the rest of the developing world, hard.

Laos has already been reeling from high inflation and an increase in food prices resulting from flood damage could push residents to the brink, but the MRC said it expects crop loss to be minimal. The Lao government has also called on merchants to keep food prices stable during the floods to lessen the suffering of victims.

Many residents and environmental groups claim that Chinese dams and reef blasting along the upper reaches of the Mekong River are responsible for water level fluctuations that have led to the flooding, but government officials and the MRC say that heavy rains are to blame.

Chinese interests have affected the river in the past. In 1995, when the modern incarnation of the Mekong River Commission was established, a riverboat carrying delegates down the Mekong from Thailand to Vietnam to sign the agreement into effect ran aground because water was being diverted to fill the reservoir of China’s recently completed Manwan dam.