OCHA Situation Report No. 1
Vietnam - Floods
28 September 2001


The Government of Vietnam would welcome international assistance in
response to the current flood situation in the Mekong River Delta. Most
immediate priority is to prevent further deaths among children by
drowning.


Situation and Damage

1.  People over the Mekong River Delta in southern Vietnam have been
suffering consequences of the seasonal monsoon flooding since mid-August.
The most seriously affected provinces are Long An, Dong Thap and An Giang.
The provinces of Kien Giang, Tien Giang and Can Tho have also been
affected by the floods.

2.  The floodwater levels in the Mekong River Delta reached their peak
levels in mid-September. After having reached those peak levels for this
year, the floodwater levels of rivers in the Delta have now started to
slowly recede. As of 27 September, the floodwater level of the Tien River
at the Tan Chau Gauging Station (on the river border between An Giang and
Dong Thap provinces) was at 4.70 metres (0.5 metres above Alarm Level III:
very dangerous flood); and the level of the Hau River at the Chau Doc
Gauging Station in An Giang province was at 4.44 metres (0.94 metres above
Alarm Level III). The floodwater levels at in-land Gauging Stations are
fluctuating at the peak floodwater level and are increasing slowly. The
highest floodwater levels at main downstream Gauging Stations are
increasing under tidal impacts. It is forecasted that the highest
floodwater levels at upstream Gauging Stations of the Delta on the
Vietnam-Cambodia border will recede slowly and will remain at high
floodwater levels.

3.  According to a damage summary of the flooding in the Mekong River
Delta issued by the Vietnamese Central Committee for Flood and Storm
Control (CCFSC) on 26 September, since the beginning of the current
monsoon flooding, 167 people have been killed, of which 143 were children.
Over 200,000 houses have been inundated, with 1,739 collapsed and 8,530
damaged. There has also been significant damage to infrastructure (1,157
schools and 33 clinics flooded, over 32,000 ha of agricultural area
affected). The total economic loss is estimated at nearly VND 520 billion
(USD 35 million).

Flood damage in the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam (as of 26 September
2001)

|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
|            |  Total | Long  | Dong  |  An   | Kien  | Tien  | Can  |
|            |        | An    | Thap  | Giang | Giang | Giang | Tho  |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
| People     |     167|     13|     63|     58|      6|      9|    18|
| killed     |   (143)|   (10)|   (52)|   (48)|    (6)|    (9)|  (18)|
| (children) |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
|Households  | 207,876| 42,806| 94,092| 29,551|  9,355| 24,048| 8,024|
|inundated   |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
| Schools    |   1,154|    221|    580|    134|     34|    144|    41|
| flooded    |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
| Clinics    |      33|     12|      7|      9|      1|      -|     4|
| flooded    |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
| Agricultura|  32,222|  1,267|  8,034|  4,557|  1,337|  7,476| 9,551|
| l area     |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
| affected   |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
| (ha)       |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|
| Economic   |    34.6|    7.3|   17.3|    3.0|    0.7|    2.3|   4.0|
| loss (USD  |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
| million)   |        |       |       |       |       |       |      |
|------------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------|


4.  According to the UN Disaster Management Team in Vietnam, preventing
further deaths among children by drowning would be the immediate priority
at this stage. Learning the experiences from last year's disastrous
floods, the provincial authorities in the Mekong River Delta have opened
many child care centres to take care of the children while their parents
going out for food and work. Many organizations and volunteers are working
to raise awareness among the people, to maintain the centres and to set up
new centres to protect thousands of other children who are still left
unattended and facing high risk of drowning. Local authorities also
provide financial assistance to these centres for food and some basic
needs for the children. In the aftermath of the 2000 floods, UNCEF and
IFRC have also carried out awareness raising campaigns to prevent deaths
among children.

5.  Latest information on the flood situation and damage is available on
the Disaster Management Unit (DMU) website organized jointly by UNDP and
the Vietnamese Government at
http://www.undp.org.vn/dmu/latest/en/frame.htm


National and International Response

6.  The Government of Vietnam has been better prepared for this flood
season, based on the experiences of the last year's floods in the Mekong
River Delta. The boats and fishing nets donated to the people in the
region during the last year's floods have been utilised for this year's
flooding.

7.  The government authorities have been engaged in search and rescue and
relief activities in the form of providing rice, lie-buoys (especially for
children), medicines, water purification tablets and other relief supplies
as well as of mobilising relief force, first-aid force and health care
teams.

8.  Although the Government of Vietnam has made no appeal for
international assistance to date, any assistance provided to the flood
victims would be highly appreciated.

9.  The Government of United States has announced USD 25,000. The
Government of Belarus has granted USD 10,000 through the Vietnamese Red
Cross (VNRC).

10.  The UN Disaster Management Team (UN-DMT) in Hanoi had met with the
government authorities on 31 August and 13 September to review the flood
situation. Relevant documents are available on the above DMU website.

11.  UNICEF has provided the flood-hit areas with USD 50,000 worth
aid-relief and sent its child protection officers to the flood areas to
learn more about the increasing death toll among children and possible
UN-DMT's interventions.

12.  IFRC is also closely monitoring the situation with the VNRC which has
appealed national and international organisations to provide emergency
relief to the flood victims on 14 September 2001, following its flood
assessment mission. The VNRC has provided an initial amount of USD 2,600
for the procurement of relief items for An Giang, Dong Thap and Long An
provinces. Based on further updates and details from assessment reports,
or should the situation deteriorate, IFRC will consider international
support through an Appeal.

13.  At the request from the UN Resident Coordinator in Hanoi, OCHA will
be providing financial assistance to support the child care centres.

14.  OCHA is prepared to serve as channel for cash contributions to be
used for immediate relief assistance, in coordination/consultation with
relevant organizations in the United Nations system. Funds should be
transferred to the following account:

Bank's Name:          Chase Manhattan Bank, NY
Address:         International Agencies Banking
1166, Avenue of the Americas,
17th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10036-2708,
USA
Account's Name:  United Nations Geneva
General Fund
Account's Number:     485-001802
SWIFT Code:           CHASUS33
ABA code 021000021
Reference:       OCHA - Vietnam - Floods

OCHA provides donors with written confirmation and pertinent details
concerning the utilization of the funds contributed.


15.  For coordination purposes, donors are requested to inform OCHA
Geneva, as indicated below, on relief missions/pledges/contributions and
their corresponding values by item.

16.  Contributions to this disaster may be found by clicking on Financial
Tracking at the top of the page for this disaster on the OCHA Internet
Website (http://www.reliefweb.int). Donors are requested to verify this
table and inform OCHA Geneva of corrections/additions/values. Donors are
encouraged to notify OCHA Geneva of their contributions to this disaster
using the OCHA Standardized Contributions Recording Format, available
electronically in the above mentioned Financial Tracking Website.

17.  OCHA is in close contact with the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in
Hanoi, and will revert with further information, as it becomes available.

18.  This situation report, together with further information on ongoing
emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at
http://www.reliefweb.int


Telephone: +41-22-91712 34
Fax: +41-22-917 00 23
E-mail: ochagva@un.org

In case of emergency only: Tel. +41-22-917 20 10

Desk Officers:
  Mr. J. McGoldrick / Mr. R. Mueller / Mr. S. Matsuka / Mr. K. Quiding
  Direct Tel. +41-22-917 1712 / 3131 / 4034 / 1769

Press contact:
  (GVA)  Ms. Elizabeth Byrs, direct Tel. +41-22-917 26 56
  (NYC)  Ms. Phyllis Lee, direct Tel. +1-212-963 48 32


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