By Trung Nghia in Viet Nam
A Viet Nam Red Cross team has provided relief and financial assistance to more than 400 families affected by flash flooding in Nghe An Province on the country’s north central coast.
The team, made up of representatives from the organization’s national headquarters in Hanoi as well as from the Nghe An chapter, was deployed at the end of June in the wake of tropical storm Haima. According to the government of Viet Nam, at least 22 people were killed and dozens more were injured. Nearly 2,700 homes were destroyed or damaged, with 990,000 acres of rice paddy flooded.
The team visited the two severely affected districts of Tuong Duong and Ky Son. In Tuong Duong, the Red Cross distributed 200 household kits along with approximatey 3,000US dollars (63 million Vietnamese Dong)
Nguyen Ho Canh, the chairman of Tuong Duong People’s Committee, said that 237 houses in the district had been flooded or washed away by the rapidly rising waters. Heavy rain and flooding had isolated several communes in the district, with some communes such as Luong Minh, Nhon Mai still inaccessible.
Mr Ho Canh thanked the Vietnam Red Cross team. “The items that they supplied are greatly needed,” he said.
In Ky Son Province, a further 200 household kits were provided to affected families coupled with more that 6,000 US dollar (126 million Vietnamese Dong) in emergency cash assistance.
According to Mua No Xu, the vice chairman of the Ky Son People’s Committee, the flood waters arrived rapidly and unexpectedly from neighbouring Laos, giving people little time to prepare. 173 houses sitting on the the river were flooded with 113 of them totally washed away. Eight irrigation schemes and two suspension bridges were either damaged or destroyed.
Local authorities estimate that the storm and resultant flooding caused approximately 6.8 million US dollars (140 billion Vietnamese Dong) in damages in Ky Son alone.
Le Gia Tien, the head of the Vietnam Red Cross team,expressed his sympathy for those affected. With the information that his team gathered, the Red Cross has called for local support to help the people of Nghe An recover from this disaster.
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