VietNamNet Bridge – The National Hydrometeorological Forecast Centre has forecast more rain in the central region under the influence of a new cold spell moving south. The region has suffered in recent days following prolonged heavy rain that has led to a loss of property and life.  

Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai hands relief aid to flood victims in Quang Ngai Province. He then left for Binh Dinh to visit people who suffered from last week's prolonged rain. (Photos: VNS)
In Binh Dinh Province alone, 17 days of heavy rain killed 10 people and two more are missing. Over 200 houses were flooded, 151 of which were completely destroyed and around VND700 billion (US$35.5 million) worth of damage was caused to local infrastructure.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai visited flood victims in the province on Saturday and supervised recovery operations. He handed aid to victims in Phu Cat District and visited the family of 19-year-old Duong Thi Nhiem, who was swept away in the floods last week in An Nhon District.

Hai agreed to provide funding to purchase 1,000 tonnes of rice, rice and vegetable seeds for farming, and medicine to help people affected by the floods.

He also assigned the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to form a plan to help Binh Dinh repair its reservoir, kick off projects to build ports for ships to shelter in on the DeGi coast, build another reservoir in Da Nai and to distribute funds for the completion of the Van Phong irrigation system by 2012.

Construction workers clear the road for traffic in Quang Ngai Province after last week's rain caused landslides which blocked roads with rocks and mud.
On Saturday morning, Khanh Hoa Province found the body of the first of its missing victims, 19-year-old Phan Ngoc Bao, after the area had been hit by four days of rain. Bao's boat had capsized while he was rowing across a flooded field.

Ninh Hoa District authorities have relocated 1,200 people from 304 households in the flooded area near the Dinh River. The floods have also caused landslides and rock falls, blocking many of the roads from the cities of Nha Trang and Da Lat.

Heavy rain that hit Thua Thien Hue Province also resulted in many losses. Colonel Dang Ngoc Nghia, chief commander of the province's military command, visited a family that lost three members to the floods last week to present them with VND15 million ($700) in relief aid. Le Dac Cho was in a boat with his wife and daughter on his way home to Huong Thuy commune when a sudden surge capsized their boat. Their bodies were found on the same day.

In the central highland province of Dak Lak, floods hit coffee growers hard. The long, heavy rains that started at the beginning of this month have swept away ripe coffee beans and now the rainfall has dropped, many farmers are harvesting green beans directly from the trees to avoid further losses. Fallen beans from under the trees have been collected, filtered and cleaned but the continuous rain has made it difficult for farmers to dry them and this lowers the quality of coffee.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News