Death toll rises in central Vietnam post floods

Hanoi – A week of heavy rains and floods have left 20 people dead and thousands in central Vietnam without food and water, Vietnam’s main disaster agency reported Friday. “Heavy rains have lessened but the water levels in the rivers remain high,” said Dam Vinh Loi, Deputy Head of the Committee for Flood and Storm Control in Binh Dinh province. “We are trying our best to prevent some dikes from breaking.”

Loi said about 20,000 people are in need of emergency assistance. The greatest danger now is the threat of water-borne diseases because fresh water resources have been contaminated.

Authorities in four provinces in central Vietnam, say the damage was caused by Tropical Storm Noul, which struck the country last week. Several people died in landslides triggered by the heavy rains; others died from drowning.

Among the dead, was a schoolteacher who was buried in a landslide on Thursday as she traveled back home from school in Quang Ngai province. More than 50 rescuers worked to find her. Huynh Thi Kim Yen’s body was discovered on Friday and returned to her family members.

“Our forces are trying to clear the road,” said Phan Van On, head of the Committee for Flood and Storm Control in Quang Ngai province. “Rescue efforts were difficult because of the heavy rains. Fortunately, the rains are finally easing up.”

More rains are expected in the next few days, however, when a new tropical storm is expected to form over the South China sea, according to the central Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting Center in Hanoi. Winds could be as high as 120 kilometres per hour.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/243771,death-toll-rises-in-central-vietnam-post-floods.html

Floods kill 13 in central Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam: Officials say floods and landslides triggered by several days of heavy rain have killed 13 people in central Vietnam this week.

Disaster official Le Viet Binh of Quang Ngai province says rains have stopped but water levels remained very high Friday, hindering rescue efforts. Floods and landslides have claimed four lives in the province.

“We have mobilized militiamen and police to rush food aid and medicine to one isolated district,” Binh says.

Binh Dinh province is the worst-hit, with five people being drowned, according to the provincial Web site.

Vietnam Airlines says dozens of flights to the seaside city of Nha Trang have been canceled.

Vietnam is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/28/asia/AS-Vietnam-Flooding.php

Central Vietnam floods peak, toll rises to 21

HANOI – Heavy rains from a storm in central Vietnam have killed nine people, including three children, bringing the toll since late last week to 21, although the flood levels have peaked, the government said on Thursday.

Residents carry a motorcycle along a flooded road caused by a storm in Vietnam’s southern Phu Yen province November 17, 2008. A tropical storm hit central Vietnam on Monday, threatening severe floods, landslides and substantial damage to coffee output from the world’s second-largest producer of the crop. [Agencies]

Disaster reports from six central provinces hit by the storm that landed on Monday said more than 5,000 hectares of rice paddy had been destroyed, a relatively small area, but the country’s coffee crop was safe.

Several hundred families in Binh Dinh province were forced to flee their homes because of floods while landslides from heavy rains had blocked traffic in mountainous areas in Quang Ngai province, state-run Voice of Vietnam radio said.

Tropical Storm Noul, the 10th tracked by the Southeast Asian country this year, did not cause damage on the scale predicted by the government. Storms kill several hundred people each year in Vietnam.

Coffee and rice production, in which Vietnam ranks second in the world, were not affected as the storm weakened before it reached the Central Highlands coffee belt.

The Mekong Delta, the country’s main rice-growing region, lies 350 km (220 miles) south of the flood-hit area, and its latest rice crop had already been harvested.

Soldiers wade along a flooded road caused by a storm in Vietnam’s southern Ninh Thuan province November 17, 2008. A tropical storm hit central Vietnam on Monday, threatening severe floods, landslides and substantial damage to coffee output from the world’s second-largest producer of the crop. Tropical Storm Noul, with winds of 88 kph (55 mph), made landfall around the beach resort of Nha Trang late on Monday and weakened to a tropical depression, state radio said. [Agencies]

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-11/20/content_7223817.htm

Tropical storm loses force in Vietnam

Associated Press
2008-11-17 08:21 PM
A tropical storm heading to Vietnam lost force before striking the country’s central coast on Monday, bringing heavy rains but no deaths or injuries, officials said.

As the storm was approaching, officials called home thousands of fishing boats and began evacuating thousands of people from high-risk areas.

But Tropical Storm Noul quickly lost strength when it made landfall between the south-central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan, said disaster official Tran Xuan Hoa of Ninh Thuan. It had been packing winds of 74 kilometers (46 miles) per hour as it churned toward the country’s southern coast.

Nearly 10,000 people who had been evacuated from coastal villages will be able to go home, Hoa said.

“The danger is over,” he said.

Weather forecasters initially predicted that the storm would hit Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, and then cut across the vast Mekong River Delta. That region is especially vulnerable to storm damage, with its dense population and makeshift houses.

But later in the day, the storm changed course, forecasters said.

Officials warned that heavy rains could worsen flooding in Ho Chi Minh City, parts of which have been inundated by surging tides over the last week.

Earlier this month, 94 people died in floods that inundated the capital, Hanoi, and other provinces in the country’s northern and central regions.

Vietnam is prone to floods, which kill hundreds each year.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=790720

Thousands evacuate as Vietnam braces for storm

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam called its fishermen ashore and began evacuating 80,000 people from high-risk areas as a tropical storm churned toward the country’s southern coast Monday.

Weather forecasters said Tropical Storm Noul, packing winds of 74 kilometers (46 miles) per hour, was expected to make landfall later Monday between the provinces of Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa.

Hanoi officials urged provincial authorities to take urgent measures to minimize damages and said nearly 80,0000 people needed to be evacuated, according to the government Web site.

More than 24,500 fishing trawlers with 133,000 fishermen had been called ashore ahead of the storm, the government said.

In Khanh Hoa, emergency workers had begun evacuating thousands of residents from coastal areas to higher ground, said provincial disaster official Nguyen Xuan Quang.

Khanh Hoa, whose capital is the tourist city of Nha Trang, is about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City.

About 2,000 residents on an island off the coast of the southern commercial center of Ho Chi Minh City were being evacuated, said Vice Agriculture Minister Dao Xuan Hoc.

Weather forecasters initially predicted that the storm would hit Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, and then cut across the vast Mekong River Delta. That region is especially vulnerable to storm damage, with its dense population and makeshift houses.

But later in the day, the storm changed course, forecasters said.

Officials warned that heavy rains could worsen flooding in Ho Chi Minh City, parts of which have been inundated by surging tides over the last week.

Earlier this month, 94 people died in floods that inundated the capital, Hanoi, and other provinces in the country’s northern and central regions.

Vietnam is prone to floods, which kill hundreds each year.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJ5jMaW4fyQYg2hqvNQ5U0ZJtF3gD94GKJ5O1

Tropical storm threatens southern Vietnam

Hanoi – Heavy rains that have caused 12 deaths in Vietnam’s southern and central regions are making way for a tropical storm expected to hit the Mekong Delta provinces Tuesday, disaster officials said Monday. Phan Phu Chinh of the Central Committee for Storm and Flood Control said that as of Monday morning, floods had killed 12 people and left one missing in south-central Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces. Thousands of homes have been submerged.

Chinh said the central provinces saw heavy rain between November 13 and 16. By Monday, heavy rains ceased, but rivers continued to rise.

The bodies of three children washed away by floods were found Sunday in Khanh Hoa province. The floods cut off railroads and highways connecting southern and central Vietnam.

Authorities Monday morning reported Tropical Storm Noul was expected to make landfall Tuesday in the country’s central region and the Mekong River delta. The storm was expected to pack winds of 62 to 88 kilometres per hour.

Vietnamese media reported Sunday that Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung had urged provinces to move people to higher ground and to call home thousands of fishing boats.

Schools in storm stricken areas will close for several days starting Tuesday. Boats have been banned from operating on some rivers.

Local media reported the country’s border guards had managed to contact just 2,000 out of 18,000 vessels operating in the South China sea to warn them of the storm.

Vietnam disaster centres and local media said floods had submerged thousands of homes in Ho Chi Minh City over the weekend.

Floods are a common occurrence in Vietnam and kill hundreds of people every year.

According to Vietnamese authorities, floods between October 31 and November 6 triggered by heavy rains in the country’s north and centre killed 59 people and inundated the capital, Hanoi. Other media put the number of deaths as high as 94.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/241934,tropical-storm-threatens-southern-vietnam.html

Floods kill 11 in central and southern Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Flooding killed at least 11 people in Vietnam’s southern and central regions, submerged thousands of homes in its largest city and stranded air and railway passengers, officials said Sunday.

The country braced for more rain as another tropical weather system approached, forecasters said.

Floods caused by surging high tides submerged thousands of homes in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City over the weekend, according to state media.

No deaths were reported in the city, but television footage showed homes and streets in the downtown area under three feet of water.

At least eight people were killed in heavy rains in southern Khanh Hoa province over the weekend, including a 2-year-old boy who drowned, said disaster official Pham Van Quang.

In neighboring Phu Yen province, the bodies of three children were recovered Sunday after being washed away from their homes, said provincial official Dang Thi Lanh.

The floods disrupted the main highway and railway links between northern and southern Vietnam. Flights were canceled to Nha Trang, a southern beach resort town. Thousands of passengers were stranded, Lanh said.

Rains had stopped in most areas by Sunday afternoon, but a tropical low pressure system was moving toward the country’s central and southern coast and was expected to bring more heavy rain to the already hard-hit areas, the national forecaster said.

“We have mobilized hundreds of militiamen to help people in low-lying villages to reinforce their houses,” Lanh said.

Vietnam is prone to floods, which kill hundreds each year. Last week, 94 people died in floods that inundated the capital, Hanoi, and other provinces in the country’s northern and central regions.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hxIa8SlpURJY2Ei0bTV5vxvwUkZAD94FTR3O0

Vietnam floods kill 12, capital Hanoi under water

People make their way through a flooded street in downtown Hanoi

HANOI (AFP) — Floods have killed at least 12 people in central Vietnam, emergency services said Friday, as heavy rains lashed the capital Hanoi and left many streets under one metre (three feet) of water.

Worst-hit central Ha Tinh province — where muddy waters inundated dozens of homes and hundreds of hectares of rice and other crops — reported seven deaths, said the National Flood and Storm Prevention Committee.

“A 48-year-old man was swept away after feeding his buffalo and a 19-year-old man was killed on the way to husk rice,” said the committee’s online report, adding that three of the victims were children.

More deaths were reported from Nghe An, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam provinces.

A week of heavy rains has swollen rivers and triggered flash floods and landslides in the region, where downpours continued Friday.

In northern Vietnam, the capital Hanoi was also hit by heavy rains that turned streets into rivers and caused traffic chaos, leaving many people stranded as flood waters soaked their motorcycle engines.

Vietnam gets lashed by typhoons, tropical storms and heavy rains every year. According to government figures, floods and landslides in Vietnam last year left 435 people dead and missing.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8QGl1cb-ohoFjaqA6eoG8tM4k4A

5 killed in Vietnam floods

HANOI – AT LEAST five people have been killed in floods triggered by heavy rains in central Vietnam, emergency services said on Wednesday.

The dead included two children who were swept away when they tried to cross swollen rivers on their way home from school.

Three deaths were reported from Ha Tinh province and one each in Nghe An and Quang Nam provinces, the National Flood and Storm Prevention Committee said.

Dozens of homes have had their roofs blown off, hundreds of hectares of crops are damaged, and landslides have cut roads to two Quang Ngai mountain districts, reported the state-run Vietnam News Agency.

Vietnam’s central region, which suffers a series of typhoons and storms every year, has again been hit by heavy rains since Friday. Rivers were still swollen on Wednesday although the rains had eased, officials said.

Last year, Vietnam was hit by seven major tropical storms or typhoons which triggered floods and landslides that left 435 people dead and missing, the government’s General Statistics Office said. — AFP

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_296102.html

Rescue and repair work begins as waters ebb

Quang Dien District of Thua Thien-Hue Province still under water Sunday.

Work began Sunday on repairing damage and rescuing victims in flood-hit central provinces as water levels began to recede.

The toll had risen from five on Friday to at least 10 dead or missing, local authorities said.

Thousands of hectares of crops have been destroyed, hundreds of cattle swept away, river banks eroded, and infrastructure damaged in the central provinces that are bearing the brunt of a spate of floods since early this month.

Many offshore seafaring vessels have also gone missing due to rough seas and strong winds, provincial coast guards reported, adding they were struggling to establish their whereabouts.

People in Thua Thien-Hue’s Phu Loc District repair houses damaged by the floods.

Though the waters have receded, meteorological experts Sunday warned flood-prone provinces to remain vigilant against fresh floods as the water levels still remained at high emergency level.

They were also told to keep a close eye on the weather in forthcoming days.

Most affected areas have had central or provincial officials personally lead repair work. Deputy Prime Minister

Hoang Trung Hai and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat were in Thua Thien-Hue Province Sunday to oversee progress on local reservoirs and hydropower projects.

Quang Nam Province was the worst-hit by the latest round of flooding. At least seven people have been reported dead or missing, more than 12,000 houses are submerged, and material losses are estimated at around VND22 billion (US$1.3 million).

Over 2,000 hectares of crops and shrimp ponds have been destroyed, hundreds of heads of cattle swept away, and a long stretch of dikes have burst their banks and have been seriously eroded.

The floods have also taken a heavy toll on local infrastructure, collapsing bridges and electricity poles, cutting off access to many districts in the province.

Provincial officials, along with military personnel, were dispatched Sunday to flood-ravaged areas to monitor work of reinforcing houses and bringing fishing vessels inshore.

Local authorities have prohibited residents from entering areas susceptible to floods.

A task force from the government and the Steering Committee for Flood Control and Prevention will reach the province today to oversee repair and rehabilitation work.

Elsewhere, the dike system in Thua Thien-Hue Province has suffered serious damage, and many local houses have lost their roofs to whirlwinds. The floods have also shut down many schools.

Deputy PM Hai and Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Phat paid a visit Sunday to the Binh Dien hydropower project and the Ta Trach reservoir respectively to ensure they were not affected by the floods.

In Quang Ngai Province, one person died, five were injured and 100 houses damaged by the floods, according to authorities.

The floods also destroyed a 7,200-meter stretch of traffic routes and inundated around 1,000 hectares of crops in the province.

In Quang Tri Province, traffic linking Dakrong District to Thua Thien-Hue Province resumed Sunday after being severed by heavy floods for several days.

Four fishermen stranded offshore were also rescued Sunday.

The central region had been hit hard earlier this month by Storm Mekkhala which left 21 dead or missing.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff

Rescue and repair work begins as waters ebb – Thanh Nien Daily