Viet Nam: Floods - Oct 1996

Since end of August 1996, there have been heavy rains in the upper catchment areas of the Mekong River in Lao PDR and Cambodia, causing high water levels downstream in Vietnam. According to the hydro-meteorological services of the Vietnamese government, as of 1 October 1996, the water levels of the river in Vietnam are rising fast. The government predicts that the water levels will possibly crest on about 7 to 17 October 1996. Due to the latest flooding in the southern provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap, 3 children were killed and about 1,000 households had to be evacuated. Damages to roads, medical facilities and dikes have also been reported. The central government urgently requested the southern provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre and Tien Giang (situated along the Mekong River) to undertake all necessary activities for flooding control and reducing damages. As for the northern provinces which were hit by the earlier floods, the emergency grants provided by DHA and the Nippon Foundation (USD 50,000 in total) are being disbursed to locally procure medicine, food, cooking materials, clothes, blankets, etc., which are to be delivered to some districts of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa provinces. (UN DHA, 4 Oct 1996)

As of 24 October, due to the flooding in the southern provinces of An Giang, Dong Thap, Tay Minh, Long An, Tien Giang, Kien Giang, Can Tho and Vinh Long, 96 people have been reported killed. More than 600,000 houses were submerged, 56,000 of which were damaged and 1,560 collapsed. 30,000 households had to be evacuated. About 80,000 ha of rice crop have been lost, 50,000 ha of fruit tree gardens and 27,000 ha of fish shrimp ponds were submerged, and 589,000 heads of livestock/ poultry were lost. Severe damage has been reported to river dikes and earth canal embankments, and infrastructure of various sectors, including education and public health. Extensive damage to transportation has also been reported, such as 840 km of national and district roads submerged, 8,000 km of local roads submerged, and 20,000 culverts and small bridges damaged. The government has estimated economic losses incurred by the flooding in the southern provinces at USD 101 million (VND 1,112 billion). (UN DHA, 25 Oct 1996)

As at 3 November, coupled with damages resulted from another tropical low pressure storm of 21 October and following heavy rains from 22 October to 1 November affecting central provinces Of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam - Da Nang and Quang Tri, more than 60 human lives have been lost. A large number of houses, many parts of major and local roads and other infrastructure have been submerged. Within one month, Hue city has been submerged three times. Many places were submerged from 1.5 to 1.8 meters deep. Some towns were entirely isolated for several days, such as the town of Kham Duc which was isolated for 8 days. In mountainous areas, heavy rains caused flash floods, damaging rice fields currently being harvested. […] According to CCFSC's consolidated damage assessment report, between 29 September and 2 November, 162 lives have been lost. More than 750,000 houses have been submerged, of which 149,000 houses have been damaged and 317 houses have collapsed. More than 26,000 hectares of rice field have been destroyed, and more than 800,000 heads of livestock have been lost. Extensive damage to irrigation canals has been reported. Total economic loss has been estimated to be USD 138 million (VND 1,508 billion). (UN DHA, 8 Nov 1996)