Tropical storm Mirinae hits Vietnam severely

Assam News · November 3, 2009

Tropical storm Mirinae created severe flooding in parts of central Vietnam, killing 23 people, leaving at least two missing and stranding families on rooftops, disaster officials said on Tuesday.

Five more bodies have been recovered, bringing the death toll in the hardest-hit province of Phu Yen to 15 people after the storm hit on Monday, drenching the region with heavy rains, said disaster official Dang Thi Lanh.

“Many villages remain cut off by rising waters and we expect the death toll to rise,” she said.

Several villages in neighbouring Binh Dinh province suffered the worst flooding in four decades after the Ha Thanh River surged over its banks, said disaster official Nguyen Van Hoa.

Five people were killed by falling trees or washed away by floods in Binh Dinh and two others were missing, Hoa said.

In Khanh Hoa province, south of Phu Yen, three people were killed, a disaster official there said refusing to give his name.

The military sent two helicopters to drop instant noodles to people in isolated villages and to rescue people who were still trapped on rooftops a day after the storm, which lost force as it moved inland.

“We have received many calls for help from people who are still stranded,” Hoa said by telephone.

Ho Quoc Dung, vice chairman of Binh Dinh provincial People’s Committee, said some 400 soldiers were mobilised to use speed boats to reach areas cut off by flooding and have ferried out more than 1,000 villagers.

Share |

Category: News | Tags: Disasters, News, Tropical Storm, Vietnam, World