Seven dead as floods, landslides punish northern Vietnam
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| Landslides damage roads in Bac Kan Province, where four people have been killed by landslides | ||
Unrelenting rain storms have lashed northern mountainous provinces for three days, triggering flashfloods and landslides that have killed at least seven people and damaged houses and crops.
Bac Kan has been the hardest-hit. Landslides have buried four people in Cong Bang Commune. Their bodies were found yesterday, the provincial government said.
Heavy rains caused serious erosion along Road 258B, a major route linking several districts in the province. The erosion damaged local houses and landslides severed traffic to many communes, local authorities said.
The floods swept away another resident in Nhan Mon Commune who has yet to be identified. Authorities are still searching for several persons who went missing in the floods.
Nguyen Ba Ngai, deputy head of the provincial Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention, said the work of evacuating flood-prone residents to higher ground would continue and the province is bracing for worst-case scenarios.
In Cao Bang Province, flashfloods have killed at least one person and left two others missing.
Landslides caused by the rain also cut off traffic to a stretch of National Highway 34 linking the town of Cao Bang to Bao Lac and Bao Lam districts.
In Bao Lam District, the water levels of the Gam River have continued to surge and hindered local authoritiesâ rescue efforts, said Mong Huu Cau, the district mayor.
Continued downpours have placed the lives and property of many residents at risk, the provincial administration said.
A landslide killed a 63-year-old victim in Lai Chau Province early Friday. Flashfloods have also submerged many hectares of crops in the province.
In Ha Giang Province, floods swept away a local in Hoang Su Phi District yesterday and crops in several districts were inundated.
A tough year ahead
Natural disasters are forecast to be worse in 2009 than they were last year. Storms are predicted to come sooner, and rainfall will be higher, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has said.
This means flashfloods will happen more frequently, and more seriously, it added.
According to the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Center, more storms and low tropical pressure will hit the country in 2009.
Red River Delta water levels in 2009 are predicted to be higher than average, it said, adding that the average levels were already alarming.
The agriculture ministry said flooding and storm prevention measures in the country were now insufficient. It added that some local agencies appeared puzzled as to how to proceed.
Dikes and irrigation systems were also inadequate, the ministry said, but localities donât have enough money to improve them.
Natural disasters killed 473 people in Vietnam last year, leaving 64 others missing and over 400 injured. The tragedies also damaged more than 4,000 houses and 500,000 hectares of rice paddies and vegetable crops, causing total property losses of VND13.3 trillion (US$760 million).
STORM TOLL IN VIETNAM LAST YEAR Vietnam is hit by typhoons and tropical storms from the East Sea every year, mostly along the central coast. In November 2008, 11 people were reported dead in the wake of floods triggered by heavy rains in the central region. In late October, heavy rains lashed Hanoi for around one week, causing severe flooding and leaving at least 22 people dead or missing. Earlier that month, the death toll in central provinces was 11 as Storm Mekkhala cut a swathe through the region. A month earlier, Storm Hagupit also killed at least 36 people in the northern mountains. At least 145 people were reported dead or missing in the wake of Storm Kammuri which triggered flash-floods and landslides in northern mountainous provinces in August. |
Source: TN, Agencies
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