Flash floods caused by torrential rain in the
central region has inundated thousands of houses and killed six people in the
central provinces of Quang Binh and Quang Tri. One people remains missing.
The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological
Forecasting yesterday said rainfall in central provinces from Ha Tinh to Quang
Nam measured 100mm-200mm and even 300mm-400mm in parts of Quang Tri.
The centre said rainfall had begun to ease off
in Quang Tri and Quang Binh.
Until yesterday, flooding had inundated more
than 40,700 houses in Quang Binh. Thousands of these houses were submerged
under 1-2 metres of water.
Yesterday morning, about 1,800 households with
more than 7,200 persons in the province were urgently evacuated.
On National Highway 1A running through the
districts of Quang Ninh and Le Thuy, flooding caused severe congestion,
stranding hundreds of trucks and passenger cars.
In Quang Tri Province, flooding also caused
long tailbacks on many roads and prevented five trains carrying around 2,000
passengers from leaving their stations.
Floodwater inundated about 14,000 households
and damaged 1,000 hectares of rice.
The local Flood Control and Search and Rescue
have rescued 12 people who got stuck during the floods and evacuated about
5,000 households.
In Hue City, heavy rains caused flooding on
most roads in the central area, with many submerged 0.5 metres under water.
The province is prepared to evacuate roughly
20,000 people in places vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and store food
in case the situation continues.
In Mekong region
Floods in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta as of
yesterday had killed 44 people, including 38 children, and caused damages worth
VND1.2 trillion (US$57 million), according to the National Steering Committee
for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control.
Flooding caused by the Mekong River rise to
record levels also swept away 152 houses and inundated 72,000 others, eroded
1,500km of dykes, and destroyed 7,500ha of autumn-winter rice and 2,600ha of
aquatic farms since August.
The annual floods have arrived nearly a month
earlier than last year.
The upper stream provinces of An Giang and
Dong Thap have been the hardest hit.
Dong Thap has reported the highest number of
deaths–15–and estimated losses of VND884 trillion (US$42 million).
The region is reinforcing broken dykes,
pumping water out of paddies, and monitoring important dyke sections around the
clock.
Previously high prices encouraged farmers in
An Giang and Dong Thap to plant thousands of hectares of autumn-winter rice in
undyked areas and they are now losing much of their crop due to the early
floods.
Farmers in downstream areas like Hau Giang and
Vinh Long provinces and Can Tho city are scrambling to harvest rice and other
crops to preclude losses.
In Hau Giang's Phung Hiep District, where
8,800ha of sugarcane were planted and would normally have been harvested around
the end of November, farmers are harvesting 6,000ha that have been submerged
for more than a week.
In Vinh Long, the Department of Agriculture
and Rural Development has helped farmers reinforce dykes, harvest crops early,
and pump water out of rice paddies.
It has also mobilised hundreds of harvesters
to help farmers bring in hundreds of hectares of rice that are at risk due to
vulnerable dykes.
The National Hydro-Meteorology Forecast Centre
said yesterday the waters in the upper Mekong River, Dong Thap Muoi (Plain of
Reeds), and the Long Xuyen Quadrangle would ebb slowly over the next five days,
but remain at the third warning level until early November.
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