According to a brief report of the Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Control, the rainfall in Ha Tinh averaged 30-70mm and reached up to over 100mm in some districts last night (October 18) and early this morning, October 19. Within a week, some places in Ha Tinh suffered from the rainfall of up to 900mm to 1,200mm.

Heavy rain and floods have made thousands of people in the central region homeless as thousands of houses are under water.

Floods caused traffic congestion on National Highways 1A, 15A, and Ho Chi Minh, and many provincial roads in Ha Tinh. Many roads were submerged at many sections; some were even under 2.5m of water. Many tracts of National Highways 15 and Ho Chi Minh in Quang Binh were also submerged under 0.5-2m of water.

The water level in rivers from Nghe An to Quang Binh provinces continues to rise. By October 18, 35 people had lost their lives and two others remain missing in the central provinces.

Nghe An currently has 113 communes with over 30,000 families inundated, including 35 communes deeply submerged and isolated. Ha Tinh has more than 110,000 households and Quang Binh with nearly 29,000 households flooded. Over 140,000 people in the three provinces had to evacuate.

Ha Tinh Chair Vo Kim Cu said that due to their limited resources, the province has asked the Government to provide 30-40 boats to evacuate local people from flooded areas and around 5,000 tons of rice and medicine. In the initial period, the Government will need to provide VND1,000 billion to help local people get back to normal and ensure social welfare.

A live TV broadcast on October 17 called for coordinated efforts to overcome the damage caused by the two recent historic floods.

Tran Duc Lai, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, launched a campaign to send messages to flood victims. Each text message “UH” is sent to 1405, and VND5,000 will be given to flood victims.

Exhausted in flood

Hoa Hai, a commune in Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province, was still surrounded by flood in the afternoon of October 18. Many electric poles and ancient trees were flooded to the top. Hundreds of people sat on their roofs to wait for the water to go down. Whenever they heard the sound of canoes, they waved their hands for help.

In a dripping wet blouse and with a seedy face, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoang recalled: “It rained the whole of October 15. By 2am October 16, water from the upstream flocked to Hoa Hai. Water ran impetuously at night. Everywhere there was screaming and shouting. The water rose up very quickly. My family finally had to climb the roof.”

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoai tried to row her small boat in a swift-flowing current to take instant noodle and water from rescue workers. She said her family lost their house and assets in the previous flood and they were hit by flood again.

Watching her assets being swept away by water, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuc in Huong Giang commune, Ha Tinh province, said in tears: “Several months ago, our fields were cracked because of drought but now everything has been swept away by flood. We are exhausted!”

On October 18, the flood in Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province, was still at the highest level since 1978. Local residents survived onthe instant noodles and mineral water supplied by rescue workers.

In the meantime, the storm Megi is coming. “If the storm comes, we will surely die,” Van said.

Hoang Cong Ly, Chairman of Huong Khe district, said that local residents are getting exhausted because of continuous flooding . All relief aid in the first flood was swept away. People are in serious shortage of food, water and medicines.

Agriculture Minister calls on localities to actively prepare for Storm Megi

The Central Steering Committee for Flood Prevention and Control held an urgent meeting on October 18 to assist in overcoming the consequences of Storm Megi and asked localities to actively prepare to deal with the storm.

At the meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, also head of the Central Steering Committee for the Flood and Storm Control, asked localities to prepare rescue forces for Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. He also asked the Farming Department to assess damages that will be caused by the storm and prepare breeds and fertilizers to help farmers restore production activities.

Minister Phat urged these forces to continue to evacuate people in Ha Tinh and Nghe An to safe areas and provide them with water and food, and especially to provide medicines to help Ha Tinh residents deal with the polluted water resources.

This morning, October 19, Minister Phat said that storm Megi may pass Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago (Paracel islands) and called ships which are sheltering in this area to return home.

Latest photos of flood in the central region:

An inundated town.

Rescue workers

An electric pole

Ha Tinh city

A filling station

This man lost his wife in flood.

PV

(Vietnam Net, 19/10/2010)