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Jul 21, 2018 / 18:28

Floods cause dozens of deaths and missing after Son Tinh storm

Son Tinh storm circulation has caused heavy rains, and damaged houses, crops in the area, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Heavy rains and Son Tinh storm have caused flooding, killing and injuring dozens of people in the northern and north central regions including the provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Hoa Binh and Yen Bai. 
 
The flash flood in Lang Chanh district. Photo: Thanh Hoa Newspaper
The flash flood in Lang Chanh district. Photo: Thanh Hoa Newspaper
Preliminary reports by localities showed that as of 11:30am on July 20, serious flash floods and landslides in Thanh Hoa Province and Yen Bai Province caused 21 deaths and missing. 

Specifically, in Yen Bai province, there were three deaths, 11 missing and seven people injured due to heavy rains, mainly in Van Chan, Mu Cang Chai, Tran Yen and Van Yen districts. Floods also damaged 642 houses, of which 79 were completely destroyed. It also swept away and killed 3,964 heads of poultry and livestock, and affected 2,868ha of aquatic area, the report added.

Floods also caused landslides at banks of rivers and streams with a total length of hundreds of meters and are at risk of further landslides. Dozens of infrastructure and electricity works were damaged. National roads 32, 37, provincial roads 166, 172, 174 and inter-communal roads were blocked at many points. It is difficult to access roads affected by floods, many places are inaccessible, the report said.

Authorities in Yen Bai province have taken measures to respond to floods, reviewed and evacuated people out of dangerous areas, the report stressed.

These provinces’ People’s Committees have been concentrating on searching for missing ones, arranging temporary accommodation for households who have lost their homes, actively evacuating and relocating people from dangerous areas as well as mobilizing forces to support local people to mend their houses and clean up the living environment after floods and storm and recovering infrastructure system, especially health care centers, hospitals, schools, irrigation and transport. 

PM asks to immediately implement disaster response plans

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered provinces to tackle consequences caused by the Son Tinh storm, the third in Vietnam since the start of this year, and actively respond to heavy rains and floods. 

PM Phuc has asked the People’s Committees of provinces in the northern midland and mountainous region and the north central region to focus on overcoming consequences of storms and floods, and launch measures to cope with natural disasters. 

The national committee for incident, disaster response, and search and rescue closely follows happenings of rains and floods to limit consequences and ensure lives for people. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inspects the operation of dykes and dams and soon stabilizes agricultural production after the floods. 

The Ministry of Transport guides functional agencies to inspect and promptly address landslide incidents, ensure smooth traffic on national highways and assist localities in overcoming the incidents in traffic axes.

The Ministry of Health provides free treatment for injured people, supports and guides people to ensure the environmental sanitation after the floods and restores the medical examination and treatment establishments. 

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment continues the close monitoring of floods and regularly update information on the situations.

The Radio Voice of Vietnam, the Vietnam Television, the Nhan Dan Newspaper, the Vietnam News Agency and the mass media at the central and local levels increase the broadcasting time to provide timely information on the work of direction and response, to regularly update and notify floods and fluctuations so that the ministries, branches, localities and people know and take initiative in preventing.

The PM requested other ministries, according to their functions and tasks, have to direct, coordinate and guide localities to immediately implement plans on coping with floods. At the same time, forces, means and materials must be prepared to quickly overcome the consequences of floods, support localities as soon as possible.