Tropical Storm Xangsane Batters Vietnam
Pastor Dale Morgan
Tropical Storm Xangsane Batters Vietnam*
By DINH TRAN TRUNG HAU
The Associated Press
Sunday, October 1, 2006; 2:42 PM
DANANG, Vietnam -- Tropical Storm Xangsane barreled across central
Vietnam on Sunday, leaving at least six people dead, hundreds injured
and tens of thousands of homes damaged, officials said.
Heavy rains are expected to continue for several days and could unleash
floods and landslides across the region, national weather center
director Bui Minh Tang said.
The storm, which killed at least 76 people and left about 69 missing in
the Philippines last week, hit Vietnam's coastal city of Danang Sunday
morning and caused widespread blackouts, officials said.
Xangsane, downgraded from a typhoon just before it hit Vietnam, killed
at least four people in Danang, a city of 770,000 people, said local
disaster official Huynh Van Thang. At least 5,500 homes were destroyed
or damaged in the city.
About 435 people were injured in Danang, said Trinh Luong Tran, director
of the city's public health department.
In neighboring Quang Nam province, a woman was killed by falling debris,
said deputy provincial governor Nguyen Ngoc Quang. Another 61,000
people, including nearly 500 foreign tourists from hotels in the ancient
town of Hoi An, were evacuated.
In Quang Tri province, one person was killed by lightning, officials said.
More than 14,000 homes were destroyed or damaged and 43 people were
injured in Thua Thien Hue province, said provincial disaster official
Phan Thanh Hung.
In Danang, many houses had their tin roofs blown off, and tin sheets
could be seen hanging over trees and electricity cables.
National carrier Vietnam Airlines said it canceled 48 domestic flights
Sunday, and train service was interrupted, stranding thousands.
In the Philippines, nearly 40,000 people fled their homes in Manila and
in 15 northern and central provinces. Damage to infrastructure, crops
and livestock topped $7.2 million and the figure was likely to rise as
more reports come in, the civil defense office said.