Vietnam learns lessons as Mekong floods return with a vengeance
PHU THO - When the death toll from last year's devastating floods in southern Vietnam started to mount local authorities
found they had nowhere to bury their dead.
"This year when the rains came we made sure we had cemetery plots on high-lying ground," said Thanh Tung,
vice chairman of the People's Committee in Dong Thap province.
It was one of many lessons learned from the 2000 floods, the worst the country had had to endure in four
decades and which claimed the lives of more than 400 people in the Mekong Delta area.
The rains came later to southern Vietnam this year, but they arrived with a vengeance at the start of last month
and have already led to the deaths of nearly 150 people.
Forecasters have warned that the situation will reach its peak in the next few days and the flood waters are not
expected to subside for at least another couple of months.
They predict that the flood water level on the Tien river (the river border between the worst-hit provinces of
An Giang and Dong Thap) will reach 4.9 metres from September 22 to 25.
Apart from the immediate danger of drowning -- more than 120 children have fallen victim to the swollen
waters this year -- the spread of disease, food shortages and a lack of fresh water all have the potential to
exacerbate the problem.
The late start of the floods this year enabled farmers to harvest around 95 percent of their summer rice crops
but local officials have warned that the autumn harvest could be in danger.
In An Giang and Dong Thap province, all public service employees have handed over a day's wages to help
pay for a stockpile of food.
Le Van Quang, chief official in Tan Chau district in An Giang province, said the money was enough to pay for
20,000 tonnes of rice which would be distributed to the worst-hit families over the next few months.
Thanh Tung told AFP that the close-knit nature of communities in Dong Thap province would ensure that no
one would starve even when food is in short supply.
"We do not fear starvation because of the spirit between the people," he told AFP.
Last year many households lost fish which they kept in nets beside their homes when the flood waters enabled
their catch to swim to freedom. This year many have now invested in nets complete with tops over their four
sides.
Donations from aid agencies such as UNICEF and the Red Cross have helped pay for three floating medical
centres while a central government-funded floating water treatment station should stem the spread of
water-borne diseases.
But the nature of the flooding means that many people are unable to follow even the most basic hygiene
guidelines.
Nguyen Thi Hong, who lives with her husband and four-year-old son around a kilometre (less than a mile) from
the border with Cambodia, admitted that the family was drinking water straight from the river.
"It is hard to find dry firewood to boil the water," she said.
Agence France Presse - September 23, 2001.
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