Typhoon kills dozens in Vietnam, Cambodia

30 September 2009
By Tran Thi Minh Ha (AFP)

HOI AN, Vietnam — Typhoon Ketsana extended its trail of destruction across Southeast Asia Wednesday, killing at least 49 people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and unleashing some of the worst floods in a decade.

Tens of thousands of people fled as landslides wiped out homes and rising waters submerged villages and ancient world heritage sites, just days after Ketsana killed 246 people in the Philippines.

Ketsana barrelled towards Laos on Wednesday after being downgraded to a tropical depression, while aid workers struggled to reach stranded survivors and get urgently needed supplies to the homeless. Related article: Philippines destruction

Cambodia said 11 people died when the storm struck overnight, while the toll in Vietnam rose to 38 with 10 missing since Ketsana first hit the centre of the country on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Laos.

"This flooding might be bigger than the historic floods in 1999," said Nguyen Su, Communist Party chief in the Vietnamese town of Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site, which was under three metres (10 feet) of water. Scene: Hoi An flooding
The town is a major tourist draw for its centuries-old pastel-coloured buildings.

On Tuesday flooding hit parts of Danang as well as Hue, the former capital and another World Heritage site, where residents used small wooden and steel boats to move around.

Central Vietnam bore the brunt of the typhoon's impact, with the country's flood and storm control committee saying that 168,585 people in six coastal provinces had been evacuated. Many areas were without power.

Aid agency World Vision said in a statement more than 5,800 houses in Vietnam had collapsed in floods and landslides with 163,000 houses having lost their roofs, but this was not immediately confirmed by the government.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said military helicopters could be sent to join the rescue effort.

"We will focus on rescuing those who are isolated," particularly in Kon Tum and Quang Ngai provinces, he said. "We have to immediately evacuate households on the banks of three rivers and areas that may suffer from landslides."

State-run Vietnam News carried a front-page photograph of houses almost submerged by brown floodwaters in Kon Tum. Flooding also struck 20,000 hectares (about 50,000 acres) of agricultural land, the storm committee said.

In Cambodia, authorities said thousands of people had been evacuated from their homes as the storm packed winds of up to 145 kilometres (90 miles) an hour.

Nine were killed and 28 injured in central Cambodia while two died in the northeast overnight as the country was battered by the storm, officials said.

"At least nine people were crushed last night when their houses fell down," said Chea Cheat, chief of the Red Cross office in central Kampong Thom province, adding that at least 92 houses in his province were destroyed.

International organisations and government officials in Cambodia said they were distributing tents and food while assessing damage.

Seth Vannareth, director of Cambodia's department of meteorology, said Cambodians were experiencing high flooding but the storm's winds were decreasing as it moved over the country towards Laos.

"It will not be very strong anymore. It is not a typhoon anymore," she said.
In Laos, five or six villages had reportedly been flooded in Savannakhet province and aid workers were making their way there by car, World Vision said.

"We have the capability to urgently ready 500 aid packs if our assessment teams find these are needed," World Vision aid worker Vatthanathavone Inthirath said.

Vietnam suffers annually from tropical storms and typhoons. At least 41 people died in September 2008 when Typhoon Hagupit struck the country's north.

The Mekong region, home to tens of millions, suffers regular seasonal flooding which kills dozens of people a year in Cambodia.

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