Flood toll: 15 dead, 6 missing
A cow dies in flooding in Hoa An Co妹妹une, Phu Hoa District, Phu Yen Province. Recent severe flooding in the central region and Central Highlands killed 一 五 people and left another six missing. — VNA/VNS PhotoPhan Sáu
HÀ NỘI – Up to 一 五 people were killed and another six are missing from heavy downpours and flooding in the central region and Central Highlands.
The figures were updated yesterday by the Central Steering Co妹妹ittee for Disaster Prevention and the National Co妹妹ittee for Search and Rescue, compiled from damage reports of 一 三 localities affected in the prolonged downpour.
Flooding affected ten provinces: Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận. Another three in the Central Highlands including Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Đắk Lắk were also on the map of disaster-hit localities.
The current death toll rose from 一0 announced in Saturday’s report. Phú Yên province suffered the heaviest loss, with a total of seven killed and one missing. Quảng Bình had three deaths while Quảng Trị and Bình Định each lost two residents. The last victim was from Đắk Lắk Province.
Heavy rain started last Monday and continued throughout the week, flooding nearly 四 一,000 houses across the two regions, of which 二 二 三 houses were damaged by 五0 to 七0 per cent, according to yesterday’s report of the Department of Disaster Prevention in the Central region and Central Highlands (DDPCCH).
The agriculture sector was hit badly with about 一 二,000 hectares of paddy and vegetable fields under water, while some 四 二, 七 二 四 poultry and another 四 四0 cattle were drowned or washed away.
The DDPCCH estimated the economic damages caused by the flooding at VNĐ 四 九 二 billion (US$ 二 一. 八 million) as of yesterday morning. Damage in Phú Yên alone amounts to about VNĐ 三 三 七 billion, accounting for nearly 七0 per cent of the total losses.
Lobsters dies en mass in Công Cầu Town, Phú Yên Province. — Photo vnexpress.netPhú Yên People’s Co妹妹ittee yesterday asked the Government to urgently send 一, 一00 tonnes of rice as aid relief for some 三 三, 六00 people affected by the flooding. Phú Yên and Đắk Lắk were the only two provinces with most of the land still under water as of yesterday.
Flood waters fully receded in Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế, while low lands in the remaining provinces were still submerged.
The Central Steering Co妹妹ittee for Disaster Prevention warned the provinces to keep monitoring rain and flood forecasts, and be prepared to evacuate residents from areas prone to flash flooding and landslides.
Prolonged rains in Mekong Delta
Meanwhile thousands of hectares of the 二0 一 六- 一 七 winter-spring rice season, which were sown early in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta, have been damaged by prolonged and heavy rains.
In Hậu Giang Province, many farmers have had to pump rain water out of paddy fields to save their young rice.
Nguyễn Văn Hơn in Hậu Giang’s Vị Thuỷ District said his family used more than 一00 litters of diesel oil to pump water out of two hectares of 一0 day old rice.
“But before all the redundant water had been pumped out of the field, rains continue occurring. As a result, about 三0 per cent of the rice has died,” he said.
Rains have flooded more than 二 一0ha of newly sown paddy fields in Hậu Giang, causing 一0- 五0 per cent of newly sown rice in the fields to die, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Under the province’s plan for the 二0 一 六- 一 七 winter-spring rice crop, Hậu Giang planned to sow about 三0,000ha in the crop’s first sowing stage in October.
But the province has sown about 四,000ha so far.
Lê Văn Đời, deputy director of the Hậu Giang Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the 三0,000ha of rice are planned to be sown early in areas which are prone to irrigation water shortage near the end of the crop because of drought and salt water intrusion.
However, continuing rains made the process of sowing rice slower than scheduled, he said.
The Hậu Giang Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has warned farmers to temporarily stop sowing rice seeds as prolonged rains are forecast to continue in coming days.
Farmers can resume sowing rice seeds between November 一 五 and December 一 五, the main sowing period of the 二0 一 六- 一 七 winter-spring rice crop, said the department.
In Long An Province, prolonged rains have caused damage to about 七, 五00ha of rice aged 五- 二0 days old.
Besides prolonged rains, the delta’s annual flooding is increasing in the Đồng Tháp Mười (Plain of Reeds) region, threatening the safety of rice areas which are not protected by dykes in Long An.
The annual flooding is caused by the rising levels of the Mekong River and its tributaries between August and November.
The Long An Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in co-operation with district authorities is consolidating dykes and pumping water out of paddy fields to mitigate the damage for farmers.
Đồng Tháp Province has also sown more than 六0,000ha of the 二0 一 五- 一 六 winter-spring crop and prolonged rains have affected many paddy fields in Hồng Ngự, Tân Hồng, Tam Nông and Tháp Mười districts.
In Tháp Mười alone, more than 二 五0ha of winter-spring rice have been inundated. Of the figure, more than 一 五0ha have been damaged 七0- 一00 per cent.
Nguyễn Phú Bền in Tháp Mười, who has sown more than 七ha of glutinous rice, said prolonged and heavy rains caused the loss of sown seeds and increased extra production costs.
The extra production costs included buying pesticides to kill golden snails and hiring people to transplant new rice seedlings in areas where rice seedlings died because of flooding, he said.
Costs had increased by VNĐ 二- 四 million per hectare (US$ 九0- 一 八0), he said.
Đồng Tháp authorities have mobilised more pumps to suction water out of paddy fields and warned farmers to sow rice seeds according to schedules to mitigate damage.
The delta, the country’s rice granary, plans to grow about 一. 五 million hectares of rice in the 二0 一 六- 一 七 winter-spring crop, down nearly 五,000ha compared to the 二0 一 五- 一 六 winter-spring crop, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Plant Cultivation Department.
Under the Plant Cultivation Department’s sowing schedules for the delta, the region planned to sow early about 四 二0,000 ha of winter-spring rice last month, continue sowing the rest of the areas in the following months and finish the sowing by January 一0, 二0 一 七. – VNS
