Death toll in Vietnam continues to rise

UPDATED (11/7/09):

The death toll from, floods and mudslides continues to rise with as many as 130 people now reported as casualties of this tropical storm. Rainstorms since the typhoon have added to the sufferring with increased flooding and fresh landslides.


Deaths in Vietnam landslide (Radio Australia)

At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide in central Vietnam after storms and flooding that left close to 130 people dead.

The landslide, triggered by rains that have lashed the country since Tropical Storm Mirinae hit on Monday, dumped thousands of tonnes of earth and mud on a group of gold miners, who were sleeping at the time.

Vietnamese death toll from typhoon Miriane rises (Radio Australia)

The death toll from the impact of typhoon Mirinae, is continuing to rise in central Vietnam.

Officials say 107 people are dead since the typhoon hit on Monday and 11 people are still listed as missing.

Most of the dead are from the eastern province of Phu Yen, where 72 people died.

Typhone Mirinae death toll hits 107 (Nhan Dan)

Typhoon Mirinae, later subsided into a low pressure, has killed at least 107 people in the central region and Central Highlands.

And the devastation continues as heavy rains keep battering the region, causing more flooding of farmland and houses. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on November 4 asked the authorities and the People’s Committees to redouble their efforts to help people recover from the storm.

According to the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control, the storm has destroyed 15,000 houses and inundated about 3,000 hectares of rice and more than 5,000 hectares of subsidiary crops.

Hundreds of fish and shrimp-raising ponds have also been flooded, causing great losses. More than 300 boats are reported to have sunk in heavy seas. Traffic, electricity and communications systems in many areas have been disrupted, making it difficult to carry out relief and rescue works.

-----------------------------------------------------Original post November 4

Tropical Storm Mirinae slammed into south central Vietnam and quickly dissipated becoming a tropical depression before reaching the border with Cambodia. Vietnam has been hit with quite a few storms this season and while most of them have been in the northern provinces, the south has received a very high level of rain and flooding as well.

Generally, "we" have a mis-perception that tropical storms and Cat 1 hurricanes are relatively "safe" in that the winds are lower than their more severe intense cousins. As we have seen both here in Vietnam and in the Philippines, just because storm is a depression or below typhoon strength does not mean that there is no danger. Flooding from Tropical Storm Mirinae has been severe enough that there are now 57 deaths as a result along with a couple of deaths in Cambodia as well.


(photo coutesty of AFP)

Vietnam storm death toll rises to 57 (Associated Press)

HANOI, Vietnam – Officials say the death toll from Tropical Storm Mirinae has risen to 57 in central Vietnam as authorities step up rescue and relief operations.

Dang Thi Lanh, disaster official in the hardest-hit province of Phu Yen, says 24 more deaths were reported in the province as information trickled in from isolated areas. An additional 18 people were reported missing.

Elsewhere in the region, the storm and its subsequent flooding left another 18 people dead and seven others missing, according to disaster officials and the government's Web site.

Lanh says soldiers using speed boats continue to move people from their flooded homes and provide victims with instant noodles and water.

The storm was essentially finished by the time it reached Cambodia. - Well guess again. The remnants of Mirinae were severe enough to cause heavy flooding even after the storm alerts were stopped.