DPM visits worst affected flood area — TalkVietnam

Posted: 08 Sep 2013 10:43 PM PDT

Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 7 visited Sa Pa district in the northern province of Lao Cai, one of the worst flood affected province.

Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (center) visits and encourages victims of torrential rains, floods and landslides, Sa Pa district, September 7, 2013 - Photo: VGP/Le Son

The Government leader asked the local authorities to mobilize all resources to support victims to overcome the difficulties.
Mr. Phuc also proposed Lao Cai province rebuild landslide damaged roads and provide 200 tons of food relief to flood victims.
According to the National Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention, as of September 7, torrential rains, floods and landslides in northern provinces have led to 25 deaths in which Lao Cai saw the highest number of casualties, with 10.
The floods also injured 16, destroyed 139 houses and submerged over 6,800 hectares of rice and other crops.
The total financial loss caused by the disaster is estimated at about VND39.2 billion.

Typhoon Kills at Least 41 in Vietnam

DA NANG, Vietnam — Typhoon Ketsana headed west toward Laos on Wednesday after battering central Vietnam with powerful winds and heavy rain, leaving behind blue and sunny skies but dangerously rising floodwaters. The official death toll in Vietnam was placed at 41, but officials said that number was expected to rise as more reports came in and as the floodwaters threatened further destruction.
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A view of a street in the flooded Vietnamese town of Hoi An on Wednesday. More Photos »
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Typhoon Ketsana Batters Vietnam

“The rain was heavy and the wind was like crazy,” Nguyen Trong Tung, a photographer, said. “Right now the sun is beautiful, there are white clouds and the sky is blue, and the streets are already clear.”

The clear weather is deceptive and the danger has not passed, said Andrew Wells-Dang, a representative of Catholic Relief Services, who called Ketsana “the most serious typhoon that’s hit here in four or five years.”

“The casualty figures will get worse over the next days as more reports come in and also as the river levels rise from rain up in the mountains that will cause more flooding,” he said in a telephone call from the capital, Hanoi.

The floods could reach the historic highs of 1964, said Le Van Duong, a relief and disaster mitigation coordinator for World Vision International, a Christian aid organization.

The storm was already weakening as it headed toward Laos, weather stations reported.

“The system is expected to completely dissipate over land within the next 12 hours as it continues to track to the west,” the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

The damage in Vietnam was far less than in the Philippines, where the typhoon was reported to have caused 246 deaths and inundated the homes of nearly 2.3 million people. More storms were reported to be heading toward the Philippines on Wednesday.

In Cambodia, at least 11 people were killed Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. “We’re used to storms that sweep away one or two houses,” Nam Tum, governor of Cambodia’s Kampong Thom Province, told The A.P. “But I’ve never seen a storm this strong.”

Official reports said some of the worst damage in Vietnam was in the central highlands, where flash floods and mud slides took at least 13 lives and caused serious damage to the country’s coffee growing industry. Flooding receded Wednesday in the ancient capital of Hue and the preserved town of Hoi An, which are popular with tourists.

Many foreign visitors had been trapped in Hoi An, some doubling up in hotel rooms as water rose on the lower floors. Others were sequestered in luxury hotels on China Beach in Da Nang. Vietnamese television showed Westerners in rain coats wading through the waist-deep water in Hoi An, taking pictures of each other.

“I had to jump from the second floor of a hotel to get into a boat,” said Mr. Trong, the photographer, who visited Hoi An Wednesday. “People were trapped in their homes and the police and army were bringing them instant noodles and water.”

Hardest hit were the provinces of Quang Nam, Thua Tien Hue and Quang Tri, according to the government. Four other provinces were also affected, including Kon Tum in the central highlands.

The storm damaged nearly 170,000 homes as well as crops and irrigation systems, the government said. It said 350,000 people had been evacuated ahead of time in a well-practiced drill in this disaster-prone region. The most destructive flooding in central Vietnam in recent years came in late 1999 when 750 people were left dead or missing.

In recent years Vietnam has experienced more frequent and powerful typhoons and floods, the United Nations Development Program said in a report last year.

After Tuesday’s typhoon passed in central Vietnam, some areas shown on television looked like vast brown oceans with rooftops and trees poking above the water. Technicians were shown struggling to repair power lines and power stations to restore electricity. Officials waded knee-deep through water to inspect the damage.

In Da Nang, the country’s fourth-largest city, damage appeared relatively light given the force of the storm, with fallen trees scattered on the streets and electric lines down but with houses and roofs intact, according to witnesses and television footage.

Much of the damage came along the coastline, where many houses were washed away and thousands of people were forced to shelter in schools and public buildings, said Mr. Duong, the World Vision coordinator. He said thousands of people were evacuated along the coast, and many of their houses were swept away.

Television stations broadcast images of uniformed officials delivering food supplies to people huddled in damp and darkened homes, their faces lighted by flashlights as they thanked the government for its help.

55 dead or missing in SW China province flooding

Floods have left 43 people dead and 12 missing with millions affected in southwest China's Guizhou Province since the rainy season began in May, said provincial flood control authorities.
From May 1 till Thursday, heavy rains had swept the province six times, affecting 2.7 million people in 52 counties in Guizhou and destroying more than 8,000 residential buildings, according to the Guizhou Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
The direct economic losses reached 1.4 billion yuan ($202 million) in the province.
The levels of most big rivers were still below warning marks, but small rivers in the worst hit areas saw frequent flooding, the headquarters said.
"From late June through July, the situation in the province will remain critical," a flood control official said.
Torrential rain also devastated southern and eastern provinces in late May and early June, leaving dozens of people dead or missing and 1.6 million displaced, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

1.6 million affected in West Bengal floods, army called out

The army was called out in West Bengal's West Midnapore district Wednesday to tackle the worsening flood situation which affected 1.6 million people in the state with five people having died and train services being paralysed due to the ravaging waters.The situation turned grim in East Midnapore and West Midnapore districts. About 53,000 people were rescued and 40,000 shifted to safer places, even as the weatherman predicted more rainfall in the state.The state received 62.4 mm rains from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon.'About 1.6 million people have been affected due to the floods,' state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta told newspersons after a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the state secretariat.He said 350 tonnes of rice, 25,000 tarpaulin sheets have been sent to the affected areas, and Rs.2.5 billion sanctioned for emergency relief.A defence spokesman said one team each from 3 Madras Regiment and 6 Engineers Regiment were being sent to assist the district administration in relief and rescue operations in the severely affected Sabong, Narayangarh and Pingla areas of West Midnapore district.Air Force speedboats have been deployed to rescue marooned people in Belda, the spokesman told IANS.Train services over South Eastern Railway's Howrah-Kharagpur section was badly hit, due to heavy rainfall in Kharagpur of West Midnapore district and Contai in East Midnapore district.Eighteen long-distance trains were cancelled, while several trains have been stranded at various stations due to waterlogging on the tracks.Raj Kanojia, state inspector general of police (law and order), said five deaths were reported in the West Midnapore district due to the floods.Eleven houses were damaged in landslides triggered by heavy rains at five municipal wards of the Kurseong sub-division in Northern West Bengal.Daybed Dash, Kurseong sub-divisional officer, said some people had to be shifted to safer places, while a relief centre was opened at the St. Joseph Primary School.The power supply was also disrupted in Kurseong as a large number of electric poles were uprooted because of the rains.Efforts were on to trace Goutam Basu, confidential assistant of former Railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who was swept away Tuesday by flash floods which inundated a bridge that Basu was crossing in a car.The Coast Guard has been asked by the district administration to send divers, the police said.The situation improved in the metropolis, as the severity of rainfall reduced Wednesday morning.According to the city airport officials, no flights have been cancelled Wednesday due to weather conditions

Central region: 10 million people struggling with floods

photo by Chuck Kuhn

Annually, land between Thanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces suffers 65% of the total typhoons, floods, and tropical depressions in Vietnam. How to mitigate the misfortunes of citizens in these areas was the matter discussed by experts at a recent workshop in the central city of Da Nang.

According to the Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Control, typhoons and floods cause losses equivalent to 1% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP). The central region, with around 10 million, suffers the heaviest losses. Last year three floods killed 167 people, forced nearly 60,000 families to evacuate, and damaged more than 60,000ha of crops in the region.

There is a paradox that the rainfall didn’t increase but floods got more serious year on year. According to the Central Region Hydrometeorology Station, the average rainfall on major rivers like Vu Gia and Thu Bon of Quang Nam province was 1,300mm/day during the flood in November 1999, double that of the flood in early November 2007. However, the flood in 2007 was 0.2-0.5m higher than that in 1999.

Experts say people are harming themselves. Statistics by the forest sector show that Vietnam loses around 100,000ha of forest each year on average, which causes floods.

Another reason, according to Vice Chairman of Da Nang city, Tran Phuoc Chinh, is the upgrade and expansion of national highways, such as 1A, 14B, and the North-South railways, which prevent water drainage, resulting in longer floods.

The construction of coastal residential areas, tourist sites, hotels and resorts is the third reason as they change the flows of rivers, narrow seaports, etc.

Experts suggest that policy makers amend construction plans and build shelters from floods and storms for people in the central region.

In December 2007, the government assigned the Ministry of Construction to design a living-with-flood project for central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment and the administrations of 11 related provinces must cooperate with the Ministry of Construction to implement this project.

(Source: VNE)