Floods in Vietnam and Cambodia leave 73 dead, Red Cross warns of more
PHNOM PENH - The death toll from heavy flooding in Cambodia and Vietnam rose to 78 Tuesday amid predictions by the Red
Cross that life in the strickened Mekong Delta could deteriorate further.
"More rains are expected in the area in coming weeks, as the monsoon season is in its early stage. Last year it
wasn't until October that the water levels dropped significantly," Red Cross spokesperson Seija Tyrninoksa
said.
In Vietnam, the country's number one Nong Duc Manh toured the worst hit provinces of the delta as the death
toll there hit 28, 25 of them children. In Cambodia the death toll was at least 45, many them also children.
Tyrninoksa said two monitoring stations on the Cambodia/Vietnam border remained at flood levels and there
was a marked rise in water levels in the Mekong Delta covering both countries. Laos remained on flood alert.
"Strong water currents continue to destroy both infrastructure, weakened from last year's floods, and crops,"
she said.
Floods have wreaked havoc in the region over the last three years with environmentalists blaming illegal and
legal logging for sharply escalating the damage caused by the annual monsoon which turns the delta into a huge
inland sea.
Nearly 800 people died in Vietnam and Cambodian floods last year while another 600 people were killed on
Vietnam's central coast by floods in 1999.
Nong Duc Manh expressed concern over the high proportion of infants among the dead in Vietnam and called
for greater efforts to ensure children were properly protected from the floodwaters.
"The majority of those who have drowned were children from poor families. Provincial authorities must take on
greater responsiblity for protecting them," communist party mouthpiece daily Nhan Dan (The People) quoted
Manh as saying.
Young children left behind by parents scouting for food or firewood accounted for almost two-thirds of those
killed in last year's Vietnam floods, the worst since 1961.
The communist party chief plans to meet top officials in all five delta provinces during the four-day tour which
he began on Sunday, the paper said.
He called on disaster relief officials to speed up the evacuation of families from flooded areas to prevent a
repeat of last year's death toll.
An estimated 33,000 families are still awaiting evacuation from the more than 80,000 homes which have been
flooded, officials said.
In Cambodia, the government says more than 550,000 people have fled their homes. Damage to date is
estimated at about 17 million dollars.
The floods prompted Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to cancel his annual trip to New York. He said
floods had dominated his agenda and pushed other issues, like the planned trial of former Khmer Rouge
leaders, out of his mind.
The Red Cross has joined in government efforts in appealing for international help and launched its own appeal
to raise 1.2 million dollars to aid 100,000 Cambodians who have been evacuated to higher ground.
Tyrninoksa said rice, shelter and household kits would be provided to families currently staying in 44 safe areas
organised by the Cambodian Red Cross.
Last year Vietnam appealed for 9.4 million dollars in flood relief in an unprecedented international appeal
through the United Nations.
Agence France Presse - September 4, 2001.
|