HÀ NỘI — Flood recovery work is underway in the northern provinces of Lai Châu, Hà Giang, Lào Cai and Điện Biên after days of torrential rain claimed lives and destroyed property.

Local authorities have mobilised all forces and vehicles with priority given to find people who are still missing and support people in repairing their houses and resuming production.

In Lai Châu Province, efforts were being made to promptly relocate households in areas at risk of flash floods and landslides. By 12pm on Friday, 233 households had been evacuated to safer areas.

Police and army forces were working together to search for nine people who were still missing. The incident happened in a remote area and it was difficult for rescuers to access.

Meanwhile, workers were striving to clear the road so that traffic could resume on all routes.

The province was trying to provide food and water for 20 households in the Sà Dề Phìn Commune in Sìn Hồ District, which are isolated due to a landslide.

Lai Châu Province is considered the hardest-hit locality with 16 people killed and nine missing in the floods.

As many as 452 houses in the province have been reported either damaged or swept away. Over 1,000 ha of rice and maize cultivation have been destroyed.

Flood recovery work was also underway in Hà Giang Province which suffered VNĐ122 billion (US$5.3 million) in damage from the floods.

On Thursday night, the provincial Party Committee held a meeting with the province’s Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Search and Rescue to discuss measures to direct flood-relief work.

At the meeting, Triệu Tài Vinh, Hà Giang Province’s Party Secretary, asked local authorities to calculate the damage and adopt measures to help affected victims stabilize their lives.

Localities were requested to provide assistance of VNĐ6 million per family of each person killed in the floods and VNĐ20 million for households that lost their homes to the floods.

In the Quản Bạ District, police forces and civil servants were mobilised to help local residents rebuild their houses and return their lives to normal.

Competent agencies were ordered to collaborate with communes in arranging housing for families whose houses were displaced or lie in landslide-prone areas.

Quản Bạ district authorities also instructed local authorities to disseminate information to warn people who are living in places where there is a high risk of landslides and flash floods so that they will be vigilant and take appropriate measures in case they face a bad situation.

According to the latest report of the Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, flash floods have killed 23 people and left 11 missing in northern mountainous provinces, mostly in Hà Giang, Lai Châu, Lào Cai and Điện Biên.

Torrential rains and floods have also swept away 161 houses, damaged 958 houses and submerged thousands of hectares of crops.

Roads and irrigation works have also been damaged, causing losses of VNĐ487 billion ($20.9 million)  — VNS