Viet Nam News

LAI CHÂU — Flash floods and landslides triggered by downpours over recent days have left 21 dead, 9 missing and 12 injured in the northern mountainous provinces of Lai Châu and Hà Giang by 10pm on June 26.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development made a field trip to Lai Châu to inspect the post-flood relief efforts.

In Lai Châu Province, 14 people were killed, 11 others were missing and another person was injured, reported the Standing Office of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Flooding also swept away 124 houses, damaged 597 homes and submerged 1,500 others.

In addition, more than 1,200 hectares of rice and crops were inundated or destroyed, while 46 hectares of aquaculture were damaged and 196 heads of cattle and over 5,900 poultry were killed.

Total damage was estimated at VNĐ443.8 billion (US$19.5 million), including VNĐ122 billion losses in Hà Giang, VNĐ300 billion in Lai Châu and the remainder in neighbouring provinces.

Deputy PM Dũng urged authorities in Lai Châu to “spare no expense in the search for missing victims, and relocating residents in landslide-prone areas to safer locations, as well as taking care of living arrangements for displaced people.”

He stressed that this is just the beginning of the rainy season, natural disasters will continue to develop unpredictably in the coming months, which requires the whole political system to be alert at all times.

Heavy rains have sparked flooding and landslides in the two northern provinces since June 23. Traffic on many roads in the provinces was interrupted as they were eroded or submerged.

The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control had issued a dispatch to instruct Lai Châu, Điện Biên, Hà Giang, Sơn La, Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Tuyên Quang, Yên Bái and Lào Cai provinces to enhance dissemination on natural disaster prevention through mass media, in Vietnamese and ethnic languages, in order to minimise losses due to rain and flooding.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc also issued a dispatch asking relevant ministries, sectors and localities to focus resources on search and rescue operations along with activities to overcome flood consequences in northern mountainous and midland provinces.

The dispatch stressed the need to safely operate reservoirs and ensure safety at dams and dyke routes in the affected localities, as well as smooth traffic on key national roads. — VNS