Leaders instruct measures to overcome flood consequences

Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on August 12 ordered leaders of flood-hit Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Phu Tho provinces to ensure victims had sufficient food, security and health care.

He asked local authorities to assess the financial cost of the flooding, while ensuring that food prices remained stable in the region. Repairing health clinics, irrigation systems, electricity supplies, schools and other infrastructure should be a top priority and the provinces should revise their natural disaster prevention plans to minimise the future effects ofstorms and flooding.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be responsible forsupplying replacement rice and seeds to farmers.

The Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Control reported on August 12 that flood fatalities had reached 112 and 45 went missing. Lao Cai is thehardest hit province with 48 deaths, followed by Yen Bai - 35 deaths.

The same day, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in LaoCai by helicopter to check on local efforts to overcome flood consequences.

Chairman Trong urged Lao Cai authorities to pay more attention to the evacuation of people, the prevention of landslides and drawing floodingprevention schemes.

According to initial statistics, the worst-hit Lao Cai province reported 85 people dead or missing in the floods which swept away 1,815 houses, submerged more than 2,000 hectares of rice and industrial crops and damaged125 hectares of fish ponds.

The floods also blocked up the Hanoi-Lao Cai railway and four highway routes and destroyed hundreds of irrigation works, the water supply system,electricity lines, schools and health clinics in the province.

Many areas in Lao Cai province are still isolated by floods forcing reliefmissions to deliver food and foodstuff by helicopters and on foot.