Vietnam: Floods kill 11 people in central Vietnam, storm approaching

Channel NewsAsia 15 Oct 16;

HANOI: Floods in Vietnam's four central provinces have killed at least 11 people and displaced thousands, with a storm in the South China Sea approaching the central coast.

Flooding from very heavy rainfall brought by a tropical low pressure system since Wednesday have cut food supplies to thousands of people and blocked north-south traffic, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

Seven people drowned or were electrocuted in Quang Binh province, four others were killed in three nearby provinces, and at least 30,000 homes were submerged, state-run Vietnam Television (VTV) said, citing government reports.

"It is our priority now to save people's lives," Chairman Nguyen Huu Hoai of the provincial People's Committee in Quang Binh said on a VTV bulletin.

Dozens of foreign tourists were among passengers stranded on 22 trains in the affected region, prompting provincial authorities to provide food and water, while many flights to the region were cancelled, VTV said.

Tropical storm Sarika, now in the Philippines, is moving toward Vietnam's central region, and could bring more rain to the affected areas, the website Tropical Storm Risk and VTV said.

(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

- Reuters

Floods kill 21 people in Vietnam, next storm due soon
Channel NewsAsia 16 Oct 16;

HANOI: At least 21 people have been killed by floods in Vietnam's four central provinces in the past week and eight are still missing, the government said on Sunday (Oct 16) amid preparations for another tropical storm to hit the country.

Fifteen of the victims were in Quang Binh province, the region expected to be hit by typhoon Sarika by Wednesday, it said.

"We need to focus on searching for the missing," Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung told a meeting on preparations for the typhoon, according to a Vietnam Television (VTV) broadcast.

Dung urged authorities in 22 coastal provinces to reinforce key infrastructure projects and prepare evacuation plans, and assured them the government would provide food relief in flooded areas.

State-run VTV warned viewers that many reservoirs were nearly full now and could burst at any time. It showed footage of people stranded on the roofs of their homes.

Around 500,000 people have been displaced and more than 100,000 houses submerged and damaged by floods, according to a government report.

- Reuters