185 killed in Vietnamese floods
HANOI - Floods in Vietnam have killed 185 people,
including 156 children, and water levels remain high in many areas,
officials said Monday.
Nearly 225,000 homes were flooded in six provinces in the southern
Mekong Delta region, where 22,800 families were evacuated to higher
ground but another 20,000 still need to be moved, an official of the
Floods and Storms Control Department said on condition of anonymity.
Damage from the floods to roads, agriculture and fisheries rose to $37
million, the official said.
Hit hard last year by the worst flooding in four decades, the low-lying
Mekong Delta region - Vietnam's rice bowl - is struggling to deal with
its second straight year of serious flooding. Last year's floods caused
$280 million in damage.
To prevent more children from drowning, authorities in the three of the
worst-hit provinces have set up more than 500 day-care centers to take
care of children whose farmer parents must go out to earn their living.
The Associated Press - October 1st, 2001.
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