- Title: VIETNAM: FLOODING SPREADS TO NEW PROVINCES RAISING DEATH TOLL TO 94
- Date: 22nd September 2000
- Summary: DONG THAP PROVINCE, MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM) REUTERS 1. WIDE OF FLOODING AREA IN DONG THAP CAPITAL TOWN WITH THE BILLBOARD OF HO CHI MINH IN THE BACKGROUND 0.06 2. SLV TRAFIC ON THE FLOODED STREET UNDER THE RAIN (4 SHOTS) 0.30 3. SLV NOODLE SHOP SERVING CUSTOMERS ON THE STREET (3 SHOTS) 0.44 4. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) LE VAN THUAN, CUSTOMER, 70, SAYING: "The water came in many houses in this town and is about 40 to 50 centimeters high, some placse are 60 to 70 centimeter...(Question...).. My house is about 20 centimters under the water for many days." 1.01 5. SLV NOODLE SHOPOWNER SERVING CUSTOMER (3 SHOTS) 1.18 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) LE THI THUY, NOODLE SHOPOWNER, SAYING: "It is not saleable, but I have to try hard to earn a living every day." 1.23 7. VARIOUS FLOODED STREET 1.44 8. VARIOUS OF MARKET WHICH WAS MOVED ONTO THE STREET BECAUSE OF FLOOD (4 SHOTS) 2.08 9. TRAVEL FLOODED STREETS/ PEOPLE IN BOAT (2 SHOTS) 2.19 10. SLV MARKET 2.24 11. PAN SHELTERS/ HUYNH THI SUU IN A SHELTER (2 SHOTS) 2.35 12. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) MRS.HUYNH THI SUU, 64,SAYING: "It's extremely hot and the life is very hard. Everything is under water so I had to move over here.Life is really hard." 2.45 13. CUT AWAY. 2.49 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Vietnamese) Mrs. HUYNH THI SUU SAYING: "What sort of things you could provide is very precious. We need rice, food ... I don't know what to do, I'm very hungry now and the life is getting harder." 2.59 15. VARIOUS OF A WOMAN COLLECTING FISH 3.08 16. SLV PETER MICHELSON, WALKING AROUND WITH CHILDREN 3.13 17. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English), PETER MICHELSON, MANAGER OF SOUTH VIETNAM REGION OPERATION, THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND CRESCENT SAYING: "Some of whom have been moved for two or three time and now on this road which is the last places in the area where they can be moved. If flood get any worse, there would be big problem of moving these people to somewhere, where they will be safe... We will try." 3.30 18. VARIOUS FLOODED RICE FIELD TO THE DYKE WHERE MANY FLOOD VICTIMS TAKE REFUGE/ VARIOUS OF FLOOD VICTIMS /A CHILD SLEEPING/FAMILY MAKING FISHING NET/BABY ON A HAMMOCK/FLOOD VICTIMS 3.55 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th October 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DONG THAP PROVINCE, MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM
- Country: Vietnam
- Reuters ID: LVADBEOOKWQRY6UM61UAME7O43NO
- Story Text: Flooding in Vietnam's Mekong Delta has spread to new
provinces, raising the death toll to 94 in the region's worst
floods in decades.
Relief officials say it could take weeks for floodwaters
to recede.
Villages in Dong Thap province, in Vietnam's Mekong
Delta remained under water on Friday (September 22).
The death toll from the floods rose to 94 on Sunday
(September 24), but water levels were expected to peak and
then start to recede in the next few days.
Most of the 94 people killed in the floods have been
children.
More than half a million homes have been flooded, many
to the rafters, and over 150,000 people have left their homes,
fleeing from the highest water levels in nearly 40 years.
"The water came in many houses in this town and is about
40 to 50 centimeters high, some placse are 60 to 70
centimeter...(Question...).. My house is about 20 centimters
under the water for many days," said seventy-year-old Le Van
Thuan.
Despite the disaster, villagers like Le Thi Thuy, are
struggling to get on with their daily lives.
"It is not saleable, but I have to try hard to earn a
living every day," said Le Thi Thuy, who runs a noddle shop in
the village.
While the strength of the tides has now decreased,
meteorologists have warned that month-end tides from the South
China Sea could slow the draining of flood waters.
Relief officials say it could be late November or early
December before the floods fully recede, raising the risk of
outbreaks of diseases like cholera and dengue.
Those who are staying in temporary shelters are
suffering the most and in desperate need of help.
"It's extremely hot and the life is very hard.
Everything is under water so I had to move over here.Life is
really hard ... What sort of things you could provide is very
precious. We need rice, food ... I don't know what to do, I'm
very hungry now and the life is getting harder," said
sixty-four-year-old Huynh Thi Suu.
Humanitarian organisations which have been helping the
flood victims are warning that if the waters continue to rise,
the situation will get worse.
"Some of whom have been moved for two or three time and
now on this road which is the last places in the area where
they can be moved. If flood get any worse, there would be big
problem of moving these people to somewhere, where they will
be safe... We will try," said Peter Michelson, manager of the
South Vietnam operation of the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent.
The effect on Vietnam's rice output -- a key export
industry -- has been limited as farmers managed to gather most
of their summer-autumn crop before the worst floods hit.
But most in the flood zones have been prevented from
planting a smaller third crop. Wednesday's Vietnam Economic
Times quoted the Agriculture Ministry as saying 500,000 tonnes
of unhusked rice would be lost.
On Friday, the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific blamed deforestation for
the floods that have affected millions and killed more than
250 people in Indochina and the Mekong Delta.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
