Flood death toll reaches 29 in northern, central regions

 

Hanoi (VNA) – The death toll in northern mountainous provinces and part of the central region during widespread floods caused by torrential rains on October 10 and 11 climbed to 29 people as of 5 pm on October 11.

According to statistics of the National Committee for Search and Rescue, the fatalities included eight people in Thanh Hoa, six each in Nghe An, Hoa Binh, five in Son La and four in Yen Bai.

21 others are missing, with nine people in Yen Bai and five in Hoa Binh.

Among the missing in Yen Bai there was a 29-year-old journalist of the Vietnam News Agency correspondent. He was swept away while reporting the flood situation in Nghia Lo township of Yen Bai.

Hoa Binh province had to declare an emergency state on the morning of October 11. Heavy rains caused landslides in Mai Chau and Da Bac districts while many roads are under water.

[Downpours cause road damage, threaten reservoirs]

More than 5,110 households in the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh have to evacuate from their homes in low-lying and landslide-prone areas. The northern province of Ninh Binh is also moving residents in vulnerable areas in 12 communes of Nho Quan and Gia Vien districts.

At a meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on late October 11, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung instructed local authorities to continue evacuating people in high-risk locations, look for missing people and provide support for households of flood victims. All agencies need to ensure safety of reservoirs and quickly repair the railways and roads, he added.

The rains over the past few days were brought by a tropical low pressure system which landed in central coastal provinces from Ha Tinh to Quang Binh on October 10. The rainfall was measured at between 100mm-150mm. In particular, some areas in Hoa Binh reporting rainfalls of 420mm (Mai Chau district), 350mm (Kim Boi district) and 200mm (Hoa Binh city).-VNA