Floods destroy houses, crops in Lao Cai, Nghe An

July 25, 2011 | 20:09

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Flash floods raged through the northern province of Lao Cai and the central province of Nghe An, destroying at least 37 houses and dozens hectares of crops.

Floods destroy 20 houses in Lao Cai

Floods came after heavy rains in Lao Cai City on the morning of July 23, causing water levels to rise quickly in Doi Stream, the large stream that runs through Ta Thoi Commune in Sapa as well as in the Bac Lenh and Binh Minh wards in the city of Lao Cai.

Hoang Van Sai, Secretary of Nam Cuong Ward’s Party Committee, said the ward was the hardest hit by flooding. As many as 20 houses were flooded, and nearly 20 hectares agricultural land were submerged.

There have been no reports of injuries or casualties.

This is Lao Cai's third flood since May of this year.

A second flash flood caused damage in Ky Son District in Nghe An on Jully 22, which was last hit with a flood in late June.

The flood isolated the district for two days, destroying at least 17 houses, as well as several schools and communal clinics. Here too, there was no injury or loss of life.

As of the morning of July 24, traffic in Huoi Cang 1 and Huoi Cang 2 highlands hamlets was back to normal.

Bui Tram, Chairman of Ky Son District People’s Committee said, “We’ve yet to calculate the total damages. But, in order to provide some immediate relief to residents, we used part of local budget to provide support of VND10 million (USD483.8) to each family whose house was destroyed, and VND5-7 million (USD241.9-338.6) to each family whose house was damaged."

On June 25, Ky Son District was also hit hard by flash floods, which caused an estimated VND200 billion (USD9.66 million) in damages. A total of 115 homes were completely destroyed, and around 800 houses were damaged, along with schools and state agency buildings, by water that reached 5 metres at some points. Electricity and communications systems were incapacitated until July 27.