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WEEKLY
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| Vietnam flood toll rises |
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Friday, November 06, 2009
HANOI: The number of people killed by floods in central Vietnam rose to 98 on Thursday, as rescuers ferried emergency aid by helicopter to coastal regions battered by Tropical Storm Mirinae, officials said.
A further 20 people were listed as missing after the storm struck on Monday bringing the worst floods in decades to some areas, the national flood and storm control committee said.
Most of the dead were from the country’s easternmost province of Phu Yen, with fatalities also reported in three other coastal provinces and the inland province of Gia Lai.
State television showed helicopters delivering aid, including food, drinking water and blankets, in Phu Yen province, where flooding had cut off road access for rescuers. The national disaster committee said the flooding in Phu Yen was the most devastating to hit the province in 30 years after dykes in the province were overwhelmed.
More than 50,000 people had been evacuated before the storm, which battered the Philippines as a typhoon at the weekend. It was downgraded to a tropical depression and made landfall in Vietnam late on Monday.
Mirinae destroyed more than 1,100 homes and damaged more than 59,000 others in Vietnam, while floodwaters covered 300,000 hectares of farmland, according to the national disaster committee.
Vietnamese authorities have given a preliminary estimate of the damage at around 55 million dollars.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
