Earlier in the day on 23 July, Lee Kang Yeol, Head of Resettlement Office of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company Resettlement Office sent a warning letter to the provincial resettlement offices in Champasak and Attapeu Provinces indicating that water levels in the dam were high and that dam failure was imminent.[12] The letter further urged that all residents in the Xe Pian river valley be evacuated to higher ground immediately.[12]