Floods leave 145 dead and missing
Nearly 200 people in the North were killed, injured or left missing due to rain and flooding, caused by Storm Kammuri, said the Central Steering Storm Control on August 11.
The flooding began last Friday with torrential rains – the heaviest in 20 years – causing 97 people and damaging more than 4,000 houses. Victims included tourists travelling in the area.
Two military aeroplanes carrying 4.5 tonnes of food and water were sent to support victims in the province of Yen Bai – the area most affected by the disaster with 40 deaths and damage estimated at VND 80 billion.
Thousands of people remain trapped in the area, as landslides cut off road links to the outside world.
The military and local militia forces are working to transport food and water to affected provinces.
The Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee allocated VND 1.6 billion (US $100,000) from the committee’s fund for floods, storms and natural disaster control to help flood-stricken inhabitants in northern mountainous provinces, said committee member Ha Thi Lien.
She added that Lao Cai province would receive VND 400 million, Yen Bai and Phu Tho VND 300 million each, and Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Bac Kan VND 200 million each.
In the south, Ho Chi Minh City leaders have sent VND 1 billion (US $61,000) in aid to the North, and called on people to support relief efforts with donations.
The Ministry of Health has told departments in the region to give free first aid and medical treatment to victims, and asked medical staff to move into flood-hit areas to monitor anti-flood efforts. Free Chloramin B tablets and life-jackets were distributed in Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces.
National Highway No 70 re-opened traffic on Aug. 11, connecting Yen Bai province with the capital, but travel was dangerous due to threat of further landslides, said Vu Van Quynh, Director of the Yen Bai province’s Transport Department, adding that the Northern Provinces had never been isolated like this before. His counterpart in Lao Cai province, Nguyen Ngoc Dung, said that railways and roads suffered heavily from erosion and landslides.
Minister of Agricultural Development, Cao Duc Phat, reached Lao Cai province on August 11, to take control of the situation. He also noted that National Highway No 70 was severely damaged and overwhelmed by traffic trying to leave the area.
The Northern Electricity Company estimated that total losses caused by Storm Kammuri to power networks in northern provinces reached more than VND 10 billion (US $625,000).
Provincial electricity companies temporarily suspended power supply to flooded areas for safety reasons.
About 100 electricity poles and one transformer were damaged while one power cable and two other transformers were under water in Lao Cai province.
Some 4,500 electricity meters needed to be replaced in Yen Bai province.
Phu Tho province also lost two electricity poles and 17 transformers.
The 11kV power network was badly damaged. The company said the repairs would cost an additional dozens of billions of dong.
The company expected to resume power supply to the entire region by next Monday.
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