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Viet Nam

Darkness after Typhoon Damrey in Vietnam

By Liu Xiangxiao Thai Thanh Van
YEN BAI, Vietnam, Sept 29, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Curling smokes of incense and heart-rending cries of flood victims' relatives covered a funeral atmosphere on Cat Thinh commune in Vietnam's northern Yen Bai province, where flash floods sparked by Typhoon Damrey on Tuesday night, leaving at least 25 people dead or missing.

"This is the first time our commune has suffered such a big pain. Seven or eight students of the Van Chan high-school died," the commune's cadre Nguyen Quoc Dung said, adding that the 4-meter flood water hit the 8,600-population commune so suddenly that local people have not taken any preventive measures.

At a collapsed house, afflicted-faced woman Nguyen Thi Suu was crying her heart out at the coffin of her son. In the commune, many families with the help of soldiers were pumping water out of their houses which were flooded with muddy water, waste, and their broken furniture, while some people with faces twisted in horror and grief were still trying to scavenge for their belongings after the floods.

"The flooding occurred suddenly. It swept away all of our property," 70-year-old resident Pham Thi Nu lamented, standing on the floor of her flattened house.

However, the woman was much luckier than more than 54 others who were dead or missing, as the flash floods and landslide hit the country's northern provinces of Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Hoa Binh and Lao Cai.

Of the localities, Yen Bai, 180 kilometers northwest of Hanoi, has suffered most serious losses with at least 51 people dead or missing, and eight others injured, provincial flood controlling official Nguyen Dinh Vo told Xinhua Thursday afternoon.

"Up to now, we have found bodies of 25 victims. We will continue searching for 26 others missing. But, I feared that the possibility of their survival is very low," he added, noting that relief work was being frantically conducted in the flood-hit areas.

However, it was still difficult to get to the remote, mountainous communes in the province because many roads and bridges were damaged. Meanwhile, the telephone and electricity networks have been knocked out for the last few days due to torrential rains.

On Wednesday, Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong called for local people to help the flood victims restore their lives. Army and police forces have been also mobilized for the assistance.

Yen Bai is to grant 2 million Vietnamese dong (VND) (126.5 US dollars) for each family whose house was swept away, and 1 million VND (63.3 dollars) for those whose relatives died. It will also provide accommodation and food for people whose houses and properties were destroyed by the floods.

Damrey, the strongest typhoon hitting Vietnam in nine years that swept over Vietnam's coastal localities on Tuesday, also destroyed some 100,000 hectares of rice and other subsidiary crops and many sea dyke segments, ripped up several hundreds of trees, and damaged more than 13,000 houses, schools and offices in coastal areas from northern Quang Ninh province to central Thua Thien Hue province.

Last year, natural disasters killed 232 people and left 38 missing, injured 187 others, destroyed 4,200 houses and 3,000 hectares of rice, and killed over 2,000 cattle and 170,000 poultry in Vietnam, causing a property loss of over 900 billion VND (some 57 million dollars).