Death toll from Vietnam floods climbs to 58 ( 2003-11-16 16:11) (Agencies)
The death toll from flash floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain
in Vietnam's central provinces has climbed to 58, local authorities said.
A girl and her
young brother walk in front of their family's flooded house in the central
province of Phu Yen, Vietnam. The death toll from flash floods and
landslides triggered by torrential rain in Vietnam's central provinces has
climbed to 58. [AFP]
Another person was still
missing Sunday morning after severe floods hit nine provinces (Quang Nam, Quang
Ngai, Binh Dinh, Gia Lai, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Lam Dong, Binh Thuan),
cutting off several villages and burying sleeping people alive.
"Tens of thousands houses were submerged and over 3,000 of them collapsed or
were completely destroyed. More than 30,000 ha of rice crops, thousands of
industrial crops and subsidied crops were also damaged," an official from
Committee for Flood and Storm Control in Central province told AFP.
It was unclear whether coffee crops, mainly located in upper areas notably in
Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces, were really badly damaged or not.
It is the second time within weeks the region has been hit by torrential
floods. At least 44 people died in October in the same area.
Breaches and landslides occurred along river embankments, dykes and
irrigation canals that had been repaired after October's floods. Nearly 200
dykes were destroyed, the Committee's official added.
"Every year, after the flooding season, we have another lesson to learn about
how to prepare ourselves against this natural disaster. But no matter how hard
we try, sometimes, we still can not avoid losses, because the weather is
unpredictable," he admitted.
Several hundred police and soldiers have been working with helicopters and
boats to help local authorities reach villages which have been particularly
badly hit.
An official from the worst hit Ninh Thuan province said 11 people died.
"We also lost nearly all the shrimp farms as they were either submerged or
swept away to the sea," he added.
Vietnam's troubles are yet not over, as tropical storm Nepartak, which
pounded the central Philippines early Friday, killing four people and leaving
millions without electricity, is expected to hit Vietnam within days.
"Around seven or eight hundred soldiers and policemen are working in all the
villages in the province to make sure that local people could be back to their
lives as soon as possible and at the same time brace ourselves against the
threaten of a new storm," the official from Ninh Thuan said.
Saturday, another civil servant of the province said everybody was exhausted.
"We are all very tired now, but we are not allowed to relax because another
storm is threatening to hit the area. We are getting ready for a new fight," he
had said.
According to World Bank figures, natural disasters have cost Vietnam 1.25
billion dollars between 1995 and 2002.
