IRIN
VIETNAM: Floods in north leave 145 dead or missing and communities 
isolated
12 August 2008


HANOI, 12 August 2008 (IRIN) - An estimated 145 people are reported dead 
or missing and more than 4,000 buildings damaged or destroyed in 
northern Vietnam after tropical storm Kammuri lashed the region with 
heavy rain and high winds for two days from 9 August, according to the 
Central Committee for Floods and Storm Control.

In the worst-affected province of Lao Cai, a mountainous region 
bordering China, 36 people were killed and 38 are missing, according to 
Vietnamese officials, and in the neighbouring province of Yen Bai, 
another 33 people have been confirmed dead.

While no exact number of displaced has yet been given, thousands of 
people have reportedly been evacuated and several communities in 
northern Vietnam remain isolated after floods and landslides swept away 
homes and blocked roads. Heavy damage to infrastructure, homes and crops 
has occurred in Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu To, Quang Ninh, Ha Giang and Tuyen 
Quang provinces. The Vietnamese Red Cross Society is undertaking an 
assessment of the overall damage.

Landslides also stopped trains running between Hanoi and Lao Cai, 
leaving holiday-makers and foreign tourists stranded on their way to the 
hill resort of Sapa. Voice of Vietnam, a Hanoi media organisation, 
reported that 100 tourists were flown out of Lao Cai on 12 August in six 
helicopters by the Northern Aviation Service Authority.

Floodwaters remain high in some northern areas, with the Centre for 
Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting predicting that the Red River, the main 
tributary running through Vietnam's northern delta, would keep rising in 
the days ahead.

The Deputy Chairman of Yen Bai People's Committee Nguyen Van Binh stated 
on 11 August that rescue workers could not reach some flood-hit areas 
because landslides were still blocking roads, and some bridges and roads 
had been damaged or washed away.

Army responding

The Vietnamese army is using trucks and boats in an effort to reach 
people in flooded areas. The government has deployed thousands of 
soldiers to search for survivors, to help move people to higher ground 
or safe areas, and deliver emergency supplies.

Troops stationed in northern Vietnam have provided 20 tonnes of rice, 
1,000kg of noodles and clothing to people in flooded areas and sent VND 
1 million (US$60) to each family of the dead.

The Red Cross Society has donated more than $60,000 to the flood 
survivors and provided emergency supplies of food and water, clothes, 
blankets and medicine.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai chaired an emergency meeting on 
the floods in Hanoi on 11 August. "Top priority will be given to rescue 
work and delivering food, medicine and other necessities to people in 
flood-hit areas, including foreign tourists stranded on national 
highways and at railway stations," he said. Hai has instructed transport 
officials to clear the blocked routes from Lao Cai to Hanoi and to 
ensure that Highway 70, the main route linking Yen Bai and Lao Cai, be 
reopened as soon as possible.

The government has not asked for overseas assistance but the UN is 
considering, if asked, deploying teams to the worst-affected provinces 
of Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Phu Tho to assess the damage.

"It's pretty clear there is a need for further clarification about the 
need for assistance," the UN Development Programme (UNDP) disaster 
management programme officer in Hanoi, Ugo Blanco, told IRIN after a 
meeting between the UN, government officials, donors and international 
NGOs. He said a decision would be made on 13 August once communication 
to the flood-hit areas had resumed. "The government has a very long 
experience in dealing with these kinds of disasters," he said.

The northern region is set for another band of heavy rain in the next 
few days. Kammuri is the ninth tropical storm to make landfall in 
Vietnam this year. It lashed China's southern coast last week, causing 
authorities to call in thousands of boats and evacuate hundreds of 
thousands of people.

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