Tropical storm hits Vietnam
Talas wreaks havoc, with one dead, 10 missing and numerous properties destroyed.
Hanoi: Talas, the second tropical storm Vietnam has faced so far this year, made landfall in its two central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, leaving one woman dead and 10 others missing.
A 48-year-old woman from Nghe An’s Hoang Mai town died after a house roof collapsed, and 10 people have gone missing after a cargo ship, which was transporting 4,700 tonnes of coal from northern Quang Ninh province to Nghe An, sank near Hon Ngu islet in the central province, Nghe An authorities said.
After the ship with 13 crew members on board sank, local rescuers have saved three people, and 10 others have still been listed as missing, the provincial authorities said yesterday.
The tropical storm has damaged thousands of houses in the two provinces and some neighbouring localities, and lifted water levels in rivers in the affected areas by 2m to 6m, according to Vietnam’s Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
In Nghe An alone, the storm has ripped roofs off over 2,700 houses and kiosks, caused thousands of trees to fall down, and damaged thousands of hectares of crops.
In Ha Tinh, it caused three fishing boats to sink.
In central Quang Binh province, at Hon La port where vessels are taking shelter, the storm damaged 26 fishing boats, a tug boat of Vietnam’s navy, and three barges, injuring seven people, said the port’s management board. In the first half of the year, natural disasters in Vietnam killed or left 27 people missing, injured 30 others, damaged 5,900 houses and inundated 11,400ha of crops, causing property losses of over 433bil Vietnamese dong (RM82.3mil), said the country’s General Statistics Office.