Heaviest downpours in 35 years flood HaNoi(01-11-2008)
HA NOI — Sudden heavy rain battered Ha Noi with falls of up to 450mm in the inner-city wards of Nguyen Trai and Lang Thuong between 1am and 10am yesterday.
The rain continued to fall into last night. "These are the heaviest falls in Ha Noi for 35 years," said National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre director Bui Minh Tang. The centre forecast heavy rain in October.
But it was much heavier than expected, the director said. So far throughout Viet Nam about 17 people are believed to have been killed or missing in the flooding, including four in Ha Noi.
Most of the Ha Noi’s major streets were submerged with water in Nguyen Khuyen, Nguyen Luong Bang, Tran Quoc Toan and Tho Nhuom streets to a depth of 1.2m.
Thousands of vehicles were stranded with major traffic jams, especially in Hoang Hoa Tham, De La Thanh and Yen Phu streets.
Some residents were stranded for up to half the day.
"I left for work from 11am and it took until 3.30 pm to arrive at my destination, 4km from my house," said a public servant on Hoan Kiem District’s Tran Hung Dao Street, Le Hong Hanh, who was soaked to the skin.
"I hired a motor driver to take me to the office so I was luckier than my colleagues who fell into the streets filled with water and mud," she said.
"My motorbike stopped when water flew into the spark plug," said Nguyen Xuan Hiep of the Dong Da District.
The motorcyclist was stranded on Nguyen Thai Hoc Streets for six hours.
More than 1,000 Ha Noi Drainage Company workers manned the pumps needed to drain the city from 4.30 am.
Hundreds of policemen were also on duty.
Power was out in the Cau Giay, Dong Da and Thanh Xuan districts and 10 flights were diverted from Noi Bai International Airport.
Heavy rain also fell in the northern highland Phu Tho, Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Tuyen Quang provinces where landslides blocked roads and crops and houses were submerged.
The water in the northern rivers were at Alert 3 with the Boi River at 14.75m.
Heavy nation-wide rain and floods have killed at least 10 people in central Viet Nam - where falls have totalled up to 400 mm - and caused extensive damage, reports the National Storm and Flood Control Committee.
Seven are known to have died in Ha Tinh Province and three in Quang Ngai Province with one missing in Nghe An Province.
The floods have cost the central provinces VND200 billion, about US$12.5 million, says the committee.
It says that dozens of people were injured when landslides caused their houses to collapse.
Fishponds flooded
Thousands of houses and hundreds of schools have been submerged to a depth of 1m and dozens of fish-breeding ponds flooded.
Thousands of hectares of crops have been seriously damaged.
Major roads in Thua Thien-Hue Province are submerged to the depth of 1m while highways 14E, 14B, and the Ho Chi Minh Highway in Quang Nam Province are seriously damaged with numerous vehicles stranded.
Highways 7, 15A and 46 in Nghe An Province are similarly affected.
The National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre reports waters in the the Ca River at 7.5m and the La River at 5.6m - above the highest warning, Alert 3.
Hundreds of households have been evacuated to safety.
Urgent message
Water in central and northern province rivers are forecast to rise to above Alert 3 - above 6m - with the heavy rain expected to continue for another three days.
The Ministry of Health has sent an urgent message to health departments in the central provinces to prepare sufficient medicine and equipment, especially in places of high risk.
It says isolated health clinics will have to be transferred to safety if necessary.
Mobile health teams are on round-the-clock duty.
The ministry has instructed the relevant agencies to be ready with medicine and equipment.
An alert has also been sent to provinces at risk to flash floods and landslides.
Highland districts have been warned about landslides and lowland districts told to watch for more flooding, says National Storm and Flood Control Committee. — VNS
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