Central region braces for super storm; flood death toll rises

HCMC – A trembling central Vietnam is bracing itself for a super storm known as Megi, which entered the East Sea last night, while grievances from flooding in the central region are still rising, with huge losses of human lives and properties. The Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control on Monday demanded central coastal provinces stay in full preparedness for the Grade-17 storm, which might make landfall in Vietnam in the next three to four days. The storm, which devastated the Philippines’ Luzon on Monday, was moving west-southwest at a velocity of 15km an hour, packing winds of up to 166kph, according to the national weather forecast center. The storm, though still far in the outer sea, has triggered torrential rains in Nghe An Province, aggravating the situation in the central region that has suffered from overlapping floods over the past two weeks. Death toll rises Latest statistics from the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control showed up to 31 people had been killed in the deadly flooding that battered the central region, compared to 19 deaths reported a day earlier. Ha Tinh Province had reported 13 deaths as of 5 p.m. on Monday, while Nghe An had 12, and the number in Quang Binh was five, plus one in Thua Thien-Hue Province. In addition, 23 people were reported missing, including 20 in a bus that upturned in Ha Tinh Province in the floodwaters on Monday. The situation is very tragic to people in the central region, which is still reeling from the first wave of floodwaters ten days ago that killed 67 people. These figures are just initial ones since vast areas in the region are still isolated, with over 150,000 houses still seriously inundated and many communes isolated, with Ha Tinh bearing the brunt of losses. Huge property losses Apart from houses whose total damages are incalculable, floodwaters have also inflicted serious losses to the people’s livelihood there. Preliminary reports from the provinces that were hardest hit showed that Ha Tinh alone lost all crops on 67,000 hectares of farmland, plus 37,000 fowls and over 2,000 head of cattle. In addition, over 800 hectares of fish farms was also wiped off in the flood, said Le Dinh Son, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. In Quang Binh, nearly 40,000 hectares of food crops was also destroyed, plus vast areas of orchards and agro-industrial trees, and 900 hectares of fish farms, said Nguyen Ngoc Giai, manager of Quang Binh Province’s Food and Storm Control Committee. Rough estimates put property damages in the three provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Nghe An at nearly VND2.4 trillion, or some US$120 million. That is not to mention damages to infrastructure facilities, including roads and railways. Another matter of grave concern to these provinces is the high possibility of disease outbreaks as floodwaters recede, said Nguyen Tho Canh, director of Nghe An Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Before the floods, the foot-and-mouth and blue-ear epidemics had ravaged Quang Binh, so when the water recedes, such disease would likely come back on a larger scale, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture. High alert Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, presiding over a meeting of the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control on Monday, told all central provinces to stay on high alert for the approaching storm Megi alongside with measures to cope with the aftermath of the flooding. Provincial authorities from Quang Ninh to Khanh Hoa were ordered to call all fishing vessels still at sea to return to the shore immediately, and at the same time, prepare to evacuate people to safety, Vietnam News Agency reports. Bui Minh Tang, director of the central weather center, said at the meeting that the possibility of the super storm making landfall in Vietnam was 30% to 40%. He remarked the storm was more likely to hit China’s Hainan Island. Tang, however, said that in case the storm swept through the central region, most houses there would succumb to strong winds, and that damages would be enormous. Therefore, besides the mobilization of manpower and facilities including helicopters now coming to the people’s rescue, provisions of foods and medicines are being rushed for the central region. The Prime Minister has also issued an urgent telegram asking ministerial bodies to disburse VND200 billion and 2,000 tons of rice in relief aid for flood victims.