HÀ NỘI — People are ignoring flood and heavy rain alerts, which has resulted in huge losses to life and property, said Văn Phú Chính, chief officer, Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention.

In a meeting on Tuesday, the committee once again issued warnings about high flood levels in rivers and streams, and cautioned people about landslides and flash floods at night. In mountainous provinces, the risk of flash floods and landslides is high.

Since mid-June, the 12 northern mountainous provinces have seen five rounds of rains, with the average rainfall ranging from 250mm to 300mm.

“Though the floods and rain were not so severe, the loss to life and property was huge,” Chính said, adding that despite just a medium level of flooding in rivers, many people were swept away because they were travelling in the deep, submerged parts.

So far, rains and floods have killed 16 people, of whom four lost their lives to a landslide. Another two people are missing in the provinces of Cao Bằng and Hà Giang. They have damaged 86 houses, submerged 500 hectares of paddy fields and other crops, and swept away 70,000 cu.m. of soil and rocks.

Initial losses were estimated at around VNĐ20 billion (US$909,000), according to the steering committee.

On Tuesday, the committee asked local authorities to closely monitor rainfall and water levels in reservoirs and rivers. It will meet with provincial governments to discuss measures to improve their individual calamity preparedness activities. — VNS