Vietnam rushes aid to flood victims, 74 have died
Pastor Dale Morgan
Vietnam rushes aid to flood victims, 74 have died*
By Ho Binh Minh
Reuters
Monday, August 13, 2007; 6:16 AM
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam rushed more food aid and donations on Monday
to victims in the central region, where 74 people have died from floods,
as north-south train service resumed, officials said on Monday.
On Sunday, the government ordered 3,000 tonnes of rice from state
warehouses be sent to the hardest-hit provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang
Binh, where 44 people had died in floods since early this month.
Three school girls drowned on Saturday in Ha Tinh while tending their
buffaloes and cows, bringing the province's death toll to 29, a
government disaster report said.
In the neighboring province of Quang Binh where 15 people had died, work
to repair the north-south railway was completed on Sunday and trains
resumed operation, allowing more food and medical aid be sent to the
flood-stricken region.
Officials said that along with food, clean water was a priority for
flood victims now, because water supplies have been polluted with mud,
garbage and the carcasses of dead livestock.
The government has not released estimates of economic losses in the
disaster-prone central region, but preliminary figures suggested floods
from a storm since the start of August have damaged property worth 1.5
trillion dong ($93 million).
The central region is not a key rice growing area.
In the southern region, seasonal flooding in the Mekong delta is
forecast to reach near the first dangerous level on Friday, the
government report said.
Storms and typhoons often strike Vietnam from August to October. Last
year, 10 storms hit the country and about 500 people were killed by
floods and landslides, the government said.