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The weather conditions occurring throughout the nation, especially in the northern mountainous provinces, have become more complex with many landslides and flashfloods, leaving behind great damage to lives and property as well as the ecological environment.
At a conference on prevention of flash floods in northern mountainous provinces in Ha Noi on Wednesday, the Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control reported that the northern mountainous provinces have experienced 25 flash floods, excluding uninhabited areas, since 1990, which claimed 965 lives and injured 628 people. Nearly 13,300 houses were demplished, 198,000 ha of rice and crops were damaged and many traffic and irrigation works were destroyed. Losses are estimated at 1.9 trillion VND (roughly 130 million USD).
The consequences of the flash floods have not yet been fully overcome in Lai Chau town (June 1990), Muong Lay district (July 1997) and Sin Ho district (Oct. 2000) in Lai Chau province; Huong Son district (Sept. 2002) in central Ha Tinh province; and in Yen Minh district (last July) in Ha Giang province.
Serious losses caused by flash floods in remote and mountainous areas have been attributed to poor infrastructure and economic development, the conference noted.
VNA - (12/08/2004)
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