Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dung urged authorised forces to quickly resume traffic on blocked road sections. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - As of 9:00am on June 26, floods and landslides caused by heavy rains claimed 15 lives in the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Lai Chau, according to the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
Of the victims, 12 were residents of Lai Chau and the rest three were from Ha Giang.
In Lai Chau, 11 people went missing and eight were injured after heavy rains triggered flood and landslides over the past three days.
Besides, floods and landslides destroyed 83 houses in Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Thai Nguyen and Dien Bien provinces, while damaging 508 others. As many as 962 houses in Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Dien Bien provinces were inundated by floodwater.
Floods also destroyed 1,207 hectares of rice and other crops, 46 hectare of aquatic farms, and killed 97 cattle and 5,400 poultry.
Rains and floods damaged many roads, and caused temporary traffic interruption on many national and provincial roads. National roads 12 and H4 were blocked by masses of soil and stones from serious landslides.
Total losses in the flood-hit provinces are estimated to reach over 141 billion VND (6.16 million USD), with Lai Chau being the hardest hit with damages amounting to about 95 billion VND (4.18 million USD).
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dung and a working delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development made a field trip to Lai Chau on June 26 to inspect efforts to overcome flood consequences.
He asked for the urgent evacuation of locals from areas with high risk of landslide and flashflood, while stressing the need to keep close watch on the actual situation to have timely measures.
He also urged authorised forces to quickly resume traffic on blocked road sections, accelerate the research of missing people, and support families affected by the natural disaster.
On June 25, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control issued a dispatch to instruct Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Son La, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces to enhance dissemination on natural disaster prevention through mass media, in Vietnamese and ethnic languages, in order to minimise losses due to rains and floods.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also issued a dispatch asking relevant ministries, sectors and localities to focus resources on search and rescue along with activities to overcome flood consequences in northern mountainous and midland provinces.
The dispatch stressed need to safely operate reservoirs and ensure safety in dams and dykes routes in the affected localities, as well as smooth traffic on the key national roads.-VNA
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