A section of National Road 32 is destroyed by flood (Photo: VNA)
As of 17:00 on June 25, the death toll in flood and landslides rose to 14 in the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Lai Chau, according to the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
Of the victims, 11 were residents of Lai Chau and the rest three were from Ha Giang.
In Lai Chau, 11 people went missing and seven were injured after heavy rains triggered flood and landslides over the past two days.
Besides, floods and landslides destroyed 67 houses in Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Thai Nguyen and Lao Cai provinces, while damaging 379 others. As many as 751 houses in Ha Giang and 18 ones in Lao Cai were submerged by floodwater.
Ha Giang and Lai Chau have suffered the most severe agricultural loss so far, as 735 hectares of rice and crop were affected, 87 cattle were killed while 14 hectares of aquatic farms were swept away by floods as consequences of heavy rains which started on June 22.
National roads 4D, 32, 279, 4H and 4C in Lai Chau were blocked by masses of soil and stones from serious landslides, causing traffic congestion. Some provincial roads of Lai Chau were also damaged.
Meanwhile, 36 houses and more than 6 hectares of rice and crop were damaged in Na Hang and Ham Yen districts of Tuyen Quang province. More than 1,200 metres of canals were destroyed, while four 0.4 KV electricity poles collapsed.
In Dien Bien province, heavy rain and floods swept away seven houses and damaged 47 others. Besides, the Nam Po elementary school in Muong Nhe border district is under water.
Total losses are estimated to reach over 110.6 billion VND (4.82 million USD), with Lai Chau being the hardest hit with damages amounting to about 90 billion VND.
On June 25, the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control issued a dispatch to instruct Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Son La, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces to enhance dissemination on natural disaster prevention through mass media, in Vietnamese and ethnic languages, in order to minimise losses due to rains and floods.
Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also issued a dispatch asking relevant ministries, sectors and localities to focus resources on search and rescue along with activities to overcome flood consequences in northern mountainous and midland provinces.
VNA
