Over the past two days, heavy downpours have killed at least 6 people, including two pupils, in the capital city of Hanoi. Elsewhere, 7 deaths have been reported in Hoa Binh, Nghe An, Vinh Phuc, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces.
According to the national steering committee for flood and storm control, rising floodwaters on October 31 washed away Pham Van Hai and Nguyen Kim Manh, both 8 years old, when they were walking home from school in Hanoi’s Me Linh district. A 24-year-old man, also from Me Linh district, was killed by lightning.
Meanwhile, rising floodwaters also washed away Hoang Le Nguyen, a 34-year-old doctor of the National Sports Hospital in Hanoi’s Tu Liem district, into a manhole near My Dinh national stadium.
On November 1, two men were found dead inside a broken-down Toyota sedan on Le Trong Tan street, near Nga Tu So intersections.
Heavy rains battered the capital city with falls of up to 450mm in major streets and roads, including Nguyen Khuyen, Nguyen Trai, Truong Chinh and Lang Thuong.
“These are the heaviest falls in Hanoi for 35 years,” said Bui Minh Tang, director of the National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre. He forecast that rains are likely to continue to fall over the next two days.
Total material losses were estimated at VND3,000 billion, according to initial reports from the Municipal People’s Committee. The rains submerged 45,000ha of subsidiary crops and 9,000ha of aquatic breeding acreage, causing losses of VND450 billion and VND810 billion, respectively.
All rivers and lakes around Hanoi can no longer be regulated as water levels have kept rising. The Yen So pumping station has been operating at full capacity over the past two days. However, by 23.00 on October 31, water levels in the canal leading to the station reached the platform where pumps are fixed.
The heavy downpours also flooded several power transformer stations, forcing the national load dispatch centre (Ao) to stop supplying power to consumers in Ha Dong City, about 10km from Hanoi, and the adjacent areas. The Hanoi power company also announced temporary power cuts in several major streets and new urban areas as low-voltage stations there were submerged with water.
Elsewhere, heavy downpours killed four Hoa Binh and Nghe An provinces, and three in Vinh Phuc, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces. Rising floodwaters also washed away a person in Thai Nguyen province.
At an urgent meeting in Hanoi on November 1, the national committee for flood and storm control asked northern and central provinces to put rescue forces and necessary equipment on standby to deal with any emergencies. It also asked these provinces to evacuate people living in low-lying areas, as well as areas prone to flash floods and landslides to higher ground.
Source: VOV