Death toll from Vietnam floods hits 340
HANOI - The death toll from the worst flooding to hit the Mekong Delta in four decades has reached 340, with flash
floods in central Vietnam killing another 15 people, officials said Thursday.
The waters which have inundated the Mekong, the country's rice basket, since July have caused at least 3.287 trillion dong
($1=VND14,278) in damage, said Do Ngoc Thien, deputy director of the National Anti-Flood Department. The victims
include 287 children.
Thien said there have been no reports of epidemics so far, but "the situation could be complicated after the water recedes."
Relief aid has been rushing to the seven affected provinces where the floods have affected more than 4 million people.
International community has pledged more than $4 million in aid and the United Nations is preparing an appeal for up to $10
million more after an assessment team was dispatched to the affected areas last week.
The Vietnamese government has disbursed VND75 billion in aid to flood victims while the public has donated more than
VND44 billion.
Nearly 800,000 homes have been flooded and more than 45,000 families have been evacuated to higher ground.
Thien said 193,000 families are still in need of emergency supplies and 23,000 of the 52,000 most needy families have been
granted small boats and fishing nets which could help them earn a living.
Meanwhile, heavy rains of 300 to 500 millimeters triggered by two tropical depressions over the past week have inundated
large swaths of land in central Vietnam and killed at least 15 people.
The tropical depression, which is hovering off the central coast, and a cold from the north were expected to dump more heavy
rain on central Vietnam later Thursday, a National Meteorology Center official said.
Floods water in central Vietnam, which have been receding, are expected to rise again in the next few days, he said.
Associated Press - October 12, 2000.
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