Brief description of the Emergency:
Since 8 September 2009 heavy rains and flood waters have inundated 39 communes in 6 districts of Kompong Thom Province. On 29 September at 1:00 am local time or 08:00 GMT, Typhoon Ketsana, making its way from the Philippines to Vietnam, lashed the central and northern provinces of Cambodia.
In addition to the existing flooding, Typhoon Ketsana brought more flood water and havoc to at least three provinces. According to the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), as at 1 October 2009 the death toll due to the floods stood at 14 (nine deaths in Kompong Thom, three in Siem Reap province and two deaths confirmed in Rattanakiri).
In Kompong Thom – ACT member Church World Service (CWS) Cambodia operational area - the following casualties and damages have been reported following the flooding and further rains dropped by Typhoon Ketsana.
- 10,684 seriously affected families in 254 villages in 43 communes
- 9 deaths (5 women and 3 children)
- 14,862 ha of paddy rice were completely destroyed
- 34,078 meters of roads cut off
- 47 people were reported injured with 18 having serious injuries
- At least 98 houses and public buildings were completely destroyed
- At least 430 houses and public buildings were destroyed (more than 60%)
As at 5 October the flood waters have not subsided and the waters remain 1 – 2 metres deep in most part of the affected areas including Kompong Thom town. There are reports that the water levels are rising in some of the lower areas.
Impact:
The flooding and heavy rains brought by Typhoon Ketsana has resulted in more than 500 families being rendered homeless or having insufficient shelter (according to data from the Provincial Governor). Food items, access to clean water, health and sanitation are the primarily needs of the affected population of 10,684 families. In addition, livelihood, infrastructures and education of children are the major longer term concerns.
National and local coordination:
From 26 to 28 September 2009, Church World Service Cambodia was part of an assessment team comprising the NCDM, the Provincial Red Cross Branch, OXFAM, World Vision, Caritas, Muslim Aid and CARE who jointly assessed the flood damages. However, typhoon Ketsana hit on 29 September, and NCDM, CWS, OXFAM and Caritas again got together to assess the most affected area in Sandan district on 30 September 2009.
Some limited emergency responses have been carried out by World Vision, OXFAM and Caritas as well as the local authorities in their respective target areas to reduce hunger and suffering of the affected population. The Cambodian Red Cross has also provided some small relief packages 800 families severely affected by Ketsana.
However, this assistance is not expected to last longer than 1 – 2 weeks and food and non-food items are scarce and insufficient to cover the needs of the coming months.
Planned Activities:
CWS will conduct a further joint rapid needs assessment with ACT member DanChurchAid (DCA), the Provincial Red Cross and the NCDM in selected communes. Based on the capacity of CWS and the presence of existing INGO in the areas, CWS Cambodia will prioritize three or more of the most affected communes including Sandan and Dang Kambet in Sandan district and Sraeung commune in Prasat Sambou district in Kompong Thom province.
CWS plans to provide emergency assistance from mid of October to June 2010 (about 7 months). Priority will be given to food items (white rice, canned fish, vegetable oil, fish and soya source and iodine salt) and non food items (plastic sheeting, water containers and filters, mosquito nets, hygienic materials, blankets, etc).
Restoration of livelihood and food security (seeds, livestock, agricultural techniques promotion), water and sanitation (rehabilitation of wells, water filter distribution, hygiene promotion), repair and upgrading of shelter and school buildings will be improved when the flood water is gone. However, a consultative and participatory approach with victims and local authorities is needed to fully identify the needs and to ensure coordination with key stakeholders.
CWS and DCA are keeping the ACT CO updated on the situation and intend to send an appeal proposal to the ACT CO. According to latest information from ACT member Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the flooding in their normal operational areas is not as serious as in other areas. However, the Coordinating Office is awaiting further information from LWF Cambodia.
Any funding indication or pledge should be communicated to Jesssie Kgoroeadira, ACT Finance Officer (jkg@act-intl.org).
Action by Churches Together (ACT) International is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.
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Source: ACT International
Showing posts with label Ketsana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ketsana. Show all posts
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Over 5,000 Families Need Immediate Help In Cambodia :Oxfam
PHNOM PENH, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Cambodia is still in emergency relief mode though flood waters in some areas are beginning to stabilize, the international humanitarian agency Oxfam said Tuesday in its press release.
Affected populations are in need of food, plastic sheets, mosquito nets, water filters and water containers among other non- food item needs, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Livelihoods have greatly been threatened especially with loss of the current rice crop. Wage labour opportunities are no longer available to those who rely on agriculture labour for income, the release said.
According to Oxfam, 5,000 families or about 20,000 people need immediate assistance in four provinces.
This figure may grow bigger as more information is received and more areas accessed. Oxfam's staff reported that flood victims in Kampong Thom, Stueng Treng, Kratie, and Preah Vihear remain among the most vulnerable.
"We can't underestimate the situation" said Francis Perez, Country Lead of Oxfam International in Cambodia.
"We are still in an emergency situation. Public health concerns and people's livelihoods are our priorities. We must keep strong coordination with other humanitarian agencies."
It is now estimated that 60,000 people are affected with at least 17 deaths including one pregnant woman, 65 injured with 18 serious cases and 30,000 hectares of rice fields and plantation destroyed by flood waters.
Oxfam's field reports show that 1,519 houses, 55 public buildings, 40 km of rural roads, 160 irrigation systems, channels, dams, embankments, and three bridges were damaged, causing major disruption to people's livelihoods. Relief works are hampered by transportation problem as roads and bridges have been damaged.
The traditionally dispersed settlements of Cambodian people also make some of the forested villages inaccessible for need assessment and aid distribution, whilst public health concerns are mounting among unaccounted population in remote and forested villages.
Oxfam's health experts warn that people must be careful about drinking water, as flood waters are highly contaminated.
-- BERNAMA
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Source: BERNAMA.COM
Affected populations are in need of food, plastic sheets, mosquito nets, water filters and water containers among other non- food item needs, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Livelihoods have greatly been threatened especially with loss of the current rice crop. Wage labour opportunities are no longer available to those who rely on agriculture labour for income, the release said.
According to Oxfam, 5,000 families or about 20,000 people need immediate assistance in four provinces.
This figure may grow bigger as more information is received and more areas accessed. Oxfam's staff reported that flood victims in Kampong Thom, Stueng Treng, Kratie, and Preah Vihear remain among the most vulnerable.
"We can't underestimate the situation" said Francis Perez, Country Lead of Oxfam International in Cambodia.
"We are still in an emergency situation. Public health concerns and people's livelihoods are our priorities. We must keep strong coordination with other humanitarian agencies."
It is now estimated that 60,000 people are affected with at least 17 deaths including one pregnant woman, 65 injured with 18 serious cases and 30,000 hectares of rice fields and plantation destroyed by flood waters.
Oxfam's field reports show that 1,519 houses, 55 public buildings, 40 km of rural roads, 160 irrigation systems, channels, dams, embankments, and three bridges were damaged, causing major disruption to people's livelihoods. Relief works are hampered by transportation problem as roads and bridges have been damaged.
The traditionally dispersed settlements of Cambodian people also make some of the forested villages inaccessible for need assessment and aid distribution, whilst public health concerns are mounting among unaccounted population in remote and forested villages.
Oxfam's health experts warn that people must be careful about drinking water, as flood waters are highly contaminated.
-- BERNAMA
****************
Source: BERNAMA.COM
ASEAN must help rebuild disaster-hit countries
October 5th, 2009
Ketsana is a Lao term for agarwood, the resinous heartwood from large evergreens that are native to Southeast Asia. But from now on, many people will forever remember Ketsana as the name of the typhoon that caused massive destruction in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos last week.
Ketsana was not the first great typhoon of the year in the Asia-Pacific region. Early this year, a series of flooding disasters struck Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. A minor flooding calamity also hit Brunei. But the flooding disasters did not force the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other countries in the Asia-Pacific to meet as one body to coordinate relief and rescue efforts.
So how strong was Typhoon Ketsana? It dumped more rain than Hurricane Katrina. In about six hours it unleashed a whole month’s worth of rain in the Philippines, which triggered the worst flooding in Metro Manila in 40 years. It claimed almost 300 lives. More than 10,000 houses, including 260 schools, were damaged.
Half a million people are now living in overcrowded evacuation centers. More than 200 schools have been converted into refugee centers, which could affect the schooling of many children. As of Oct. 2, typhoon Ketsana had affected 3 million people in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
After wreaking havoc in the Philippines, Ketsana unleashed its fury in Indochina. It forced the evacuation of 350,000 people in central Vietnam and destroyed more than 300,000 homes, schools and other vital infrastructure in the country. It killed at least 92 people, left 19 missing, and injured 199 according to a government report. Ketsana also destroyed millions of dollars worth of agricultural crops in six provinces, which will affect the country’s food security.
Residents described Ketsana as the most serious and ferocious typhoon to hit Vietnam in the last five years. They also compared the floods caused by it to the deadly 1964 floods.
Ketsana also battered Cambodia and Laos. The casualties in these countries are lower compared to the Philippines and Vietnam but they also experienced unprecedented flooding.
An expat in Cambodia said that it was the first time floods have been so bad in Siem Reap. Another expat wrote that the level of water in the moat surrounding Angkor Wat had reached its peak. A civil society group reported that in one province alone, almost 15,000 homes were flooded.
Ketsana also damaged the southern part of Laos and caused widespread flooding in Xekong and Attapeu provinces. Authorities are also worried that 50 hectares of agricultural land is flooded.
Last August, Typhoon Morakot became the worst calamity to hit Taiwan in the past 200 years. Again, Asia-Pacific nations failed to call an emergency caucus to discuss collective efforts on ways to minimize the negative economic, social and environmental impact of natural disasters in the future.
Today there is a need for ASEAN unity and cooperation to help rebuild the flooded communities in four Southeast Asian countries. The least ASEAN should do is to share resources and volunteers to aid flood victims. ASEAN should lead the international campaign in seeking more economic relief for the calamity-stricken areas in the region.
ASEAN should have a regional disaster-preparedness program. It should identify the environmental high-risk areas in the region and establish a common fund to modernize the weather monitoring facilities of member countries.
It should implement an innovative system to quickly respond to natural calamities. It should have green soldiers, medical teams and volunteers who can be swiftly deployed to any part of the region that needs assistance.
If Typhoon Ketsana were a terrorist group, ASEAN members would have met by now to denounce it and plan measures to prevent another terrorist group from destroying more lives and properties in the future. ASEAN governments should refocus their priorities. Climate change and not terrorism is the number one threat to stability in the region.
There would be many advantages if ASEAN’s efforts in combating the negative effects of climate change were synergized. This would facilitate a productive exchange of new ideas, efficient programs and modern approaches in dealing with climate change. It could foster economic progress based on the principle of environmental sustainability and generate a sense of solidarity among the people in the region. It would also guarantee immediate relief to disaster-hit countries.
This year, as in past years, ASEAN has failed to demonstrate unity although its member countries were ravaged by various natural calamities. Can Typhoon Ketsana finally force a change in attitude among ASEAN leaders?
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Source: MONG PALATINO, filipino activist, blogger, and parliamentarian
Ketsana is a Lao term for agarwood, the resinous heartwood from large evergreens that are native to Southeast Asia. But from now on, many people will forever remember Ketsana as the name of the typhoon that caused massive destruction in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos last week.
Ketsana was not the first great typhoon of the year in the Asia-Pacific region. Early this year, a series of flooding disasters struck Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. A minor flooding calamity also hit Brunei. But the flooding disasters did not force the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other countries in the Asia-Pacific to meet as one body to coordinate relief and rescue efforts.
So how strong was Typhoon Ketsana? It dumped more rain than Hurricane Katrina. In about six hours it unleashed a whole month’s worth of rain in the Philippines, which triggered the worst flooding in Metro Manila in 40 years. It claimed almost 300 lives. More than 10,000 houses, including 260 schools, were damaged.
Half a million people are now living in overcrowded evacuation centers. More than 200 schools have been converted into refugee centers, which could affect the schooling of many children. As of Oct. 2, typhoon Ketsana had affected 3 million people in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
After wreaking havoc in the Philippines, Ketsana unleashed its fury in Indochina. It forced the evacuation of 350,000 people in central Vietnam and destroyed more than 300,000 homes, schools and other vital infrastructure in the country. It killed at least 92 people, left 19 missing, and injured 199 according to a government report. Ketsana also destroyed millions of dollars worth of agricultural crops in six provinces, which will affect the country’s food security.
Residents described Ketsana as the most serious and ferocious typhoon to hit Vietnam in the last five years. They also compared the floods caused by it to the deadly 1964 floods.
Ketsana also battered Cambodia and Laos. The casualties in these countries are lower compared to the Philippines and Vietnam but they also experienced unprecedented flooding.
An expat in Cambodia said that it was the first time floods have been so bad in Siem Reap. Another expat wrote that the level of water in the moat surrounding Angkor Wat had reached its peak. A civil society group reported that in one province alone, almost 15,000 homes were flooded.
Ketsana also damaged the southern part of Laos and caused widespread flooding in Xekong and Attapeu provinces. Authorities are also worried that 50 hectares of agricultural land is flooded.
Last August, Typhoon Morakot became the worst calamity to hit Taiwan in the past 200 years. Again, Asia-Pacific nations failed to call an emergency caucus to discuss collective efforts on ways to minimize the negative economic, social and environmental impact of natural disasters in the future.
Today there is a need for ASEAN unity and cooperation to help rebuild the flooded communities in four Southeast Asian countries. The least ASEAN should do is to share resources and volunteers to aid flood victims. ASEAN should lead the international campaign in seeking more economic relief for the calamity-stricken areas in the region.
ASEAN should have a regional disaster-preparedness program. It should identify the environmental high-risk areas in the region and establish a common fund to modernize the weather monitoring facilities of member countries.
It should implement an innovative system to quickly respond to natural calamities. It should have green soldiers, medical teams and volunteers who can be swiftly deployed to any part of the region that needs assistance.
If Typhoon Ketsana were a terrorist group, ASEAN members would have met by now to denounce it and plan measures to prevent another terrorist group from destroying more lives and properties in the future. ASEAN governments should refocus their priorities. Climate change and not terrorism is the number one threat to stability in the region.
There would be many advantages if ASEAN’s efforts in combating the negative effects of climate change were synergized. This would facilitate a productive exchange of new ideas, efficient programs and modern approaches in dealing with climate change. It could foster economic progress based on the principle of environmental sustainability and generate a sense of solidarity among the people in the region. It would also guarantee immediate relief to disaster-hit countries.
This year, as in past years, ASEAN has failed to demonstrate unity although its member countries were ravaged by various natural calamities. Can Typhoon Ketsana finally force a change in attitude among ASEAN leaders?
**************
Source: MONG PALATINO, filipino activist, blogger, and parliamentarian
Storm leaves Kingdom on verge of crisis
MONDAY, 05 OCTOBER 2009 15:03 MAY TITTHARA AND IRWIN LOY
Aid agencies say remote settlements are difficult to reach; death toll rises.
Photo by: AFP
A woman cradles her child as she waits for aid from the Cambodian Red Cross in the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana in Kampong Thom province.
A HUMANITARIAN crisis loomed across the Kingdom on Sunday as aid agencies struggled to reach people in remote parts of the country caught in the path of Typhoon Ketsana when it struck Cambodia with devastating force last week.
At least 10,000 people are still in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, according to Oxfam, although there are fears the true figure could be much higher. More than eight provinces were severely affected by the storm, creating a “staggering demand” for aid, the group said.
Relief workers stationed across the country reported serious difficulties transporting much-needed supplies to the worst-hit provinces, as still-rising floodwaters left vast stretches of the country’s rugged terrain almost completely cut off.
While survivors of the flash floods and 185mph winds began the daunting task of rebuilding their shattered lives, experts warned on Sunday that the damage wrought on the Kingdom’s food supplies could trigger serious long-term shortages.
“The concern in Cambodia is huge,” said Francis Perez, country director for Oxfam International in Cambodia. “We’re talking about thousands of people in need of emergency assistance just in Kampong Thom province alone. I don’t think by any stretch of the imagination we could assume that more than half of the affected people have been reached by emergency relief.”
The typhoon destroyed large swathes of Cambodia’s rice crops and left a trail of dead livestock in its wake, just weeks before the November harvest was due to start. Oxfam’s initial estimates of the damage have since doubled: As many as 50,000 hectares of rice paddies may have been destroyed, it said in a statement Saturday.
“In areas where we have been conducting assessments, damages to crops are as much as 90 percent,” said Perez. “That will have a longer-term impact on people’s lives. In most of the fields where there have been floods, particularly in Kampong Thom province, crops have been submerged for more than two weeks. The farmers say that will ensure the crops will not survive.”
As the country struggled to calculate the long-term cost of the storm, the immediate human cost continued to climb. The official death toll from the National Committee for Disaster Management rose to 15 over the weekend: nine people in Kampong Thom province, three in Ratanakkiri and three in Battambang. Additional reports of fatalities, including a report of 17-year-old boy believed to have drowned while in Siem Reap’s swollen river, had not been confirmed.
Efforts to get aid to the people most in need have been “severely hampered” by widespread flooding, said Uy Sam Ath, director of disaster management for the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC). In Preah Vihear, where it normally takes the CRC 45 minutes to distribute basic food aid to 1,000 families, dangerously high water levels in the wake of the storm meant the process took an arduous four days to complete.
At the same time, parts of Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri provinces have proved completely impassable, leading CRC to appeal to its Vietnamese counterparts for help in what Uy Sam Ath described as the largest domestic rescue effort he has seen since catastrophic flooding in 2000 destroyed more than 300,000 homes.
Provincial officials reported continued flooding Sunday night, and several attempted to evacuate people to higher ground.
Chhun Chhorn, Kompong Thom provincial governor, said: “The water levels are getting higher and higher. We are moving people to safety now.”
People living along the Stung Sen River in Sandan, Prasat Balang and Prasat Sambor districts have been warned to make emergency plans, he said.
In Stung Treng province, Governor Loy Sophat said floodwaters had risen higher than expected, and authorities put the entire province on alert. “The flood has destroyed more than 3,000 hectares of rice paddies, affecting every district in the province,” he said.
In Ratanakkiri, where three people were confirmed killed, emergency food aid was being delivered by helicopter, said Governor Pao Ham Phan.
Two of the victims were crushed by falling trees; the third drowned when the boat in which he was fishing capsized. Despite the deaths, the governor said most people in the province had been well-prepared. “Because we knew about the storm first, we could save our people on time,” he said.
Kham Phoeun, governor of Kratie province, said most people had been evacuated from the rising floodwaters, but that about 180 hectares of rice had been destroyed.
Near Preah Vihear, military personnel had to clear the road after a landslide blocked it in two places following heavy rain Friday night. “Our soldiers are used to it, so they are not affected by it,” Yim Phim, commander of Brigade 8, said Sunday.
Polling stations in several provinces were also closed due to flooding, preventing voters from checking their details on the electoral register, according to officials. Tep Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee, said: “People only have until October 20 to check their names on voter lists, but now our country is facing a natural disaster. It has really interrupted our work.” People in the affected provinces of Kampong Thom, Pursat, Ratanakkiri and Preah Vihear would be given an extended deadline, he said.
As the waters begin to recede, aid agencies are bracing themselves for the next phase: recovery. The CRC will provide water-purification systems, health education and seeds in what it insists will be a modest cleanup operation compared with neighbouring countries where Ketsana first struck, leaving hundreds dead.
“We cannot compare the impact [in Cambodia] to Indonesia, the Philippines or Vietnam,” Uy Sam Ath said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MOM KUNTHEAR AND THET SAMBATH
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Source: THE PHNOM PENH POST
Aid agencies say remote settlements are difficult to reach; death toll rises.
Photo by: AFP
A woman cradles her child as she waits for aid from the Cambodian Red Cross in the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana in Kampong Thom province.
A HUMANITARIAN crisis loomed across the Kingdom on Sunday as aid agencies struggled to reach people in remote parts of the country caught in the path of Typhoon Ketsana when it struck Cambodia with devastating force last week.
At least 10,000 people are still in need of immediate humanitarian assistance, according to Oxfam, although there are fears the true figure could be much higher. More than eight provinces were severely affected by the storm, creating a “staggering demand” for aid, the group said.
Relief workers stationed across the country reported serious difficulties transporting much-needed supplies to the worst-hit provinces, as still-rising floodwaters left vast stretches of the country’s rugged terrain almost completely cut off.
While survivors of the flash floods and 185mph winds began the daunting task of rebuilding their shattered lives, experts warned on Sunday that the damage wrought on the Kingdom’s food supplies could trigger serious long-term shortages.
“The concern in Cambodia is huge,” said Francis Perez, country director for Oxfam International in Cambodia. “We’re talking about thousands of people in need of emergency assistance just in Kampong Thom province alone. I don’t think by any stretch of the imagination we could assume that more than half of the affected people have been reached by emergency relief.”
The typhoon destroyed large swathes of Cambodia’s rice crops and left a trail of dead livestock in its wake, just weeks before the November harvest was due to start. Oxfam’s initial estimates of the damage have since doubled: As many as 50,000 hectares of rice paddies may have been destroyed, it said in a statement Saturday.
“In areas where we have been conducting assessments, damages to crops are as much as 90 percent,” said Perez. “That will have a longer-term impact on people’s lives. In most of the fields where there have been floods, particularly in Kampong Thom province, crops have been submerged for more than two weeks. The farmers say that will ensure the crops will not survive.”
As the country struggled to calculate the long-term cost of the storm, the immediate human cost continued to climb. The official death toll from the National Committee for Disaster Management rose to 15 over the weekend: nine people in Kampong Thom province, three in Ratanakkiri and three in Battambang. Additional reports of fatalities, including a report of 17-year-old boy believed to have drowned while in Siem Reap’s swollen river, had not been confirmed.
Efforts to get aid to the people most in need have been “severely hampered” by widespread flooding, said Uy Sam Ath, director of disaster management for the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC). In Preah Vihear, where it normally takes the CRC 45 minutes to distribute basic food aid to 1,000 families, dangerously high water levels in the wake of the storm meant the process took an arduous four days to complete.
At the same time, parts of Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri provinces have proved completely impassable, leading CRC to appeal to its Vietnamese counterparts for help in what Uy Sam Ath described as the largest domestic rescue effort he has seen since catastrophic flooding in 2000 destroyed more than 300,000 homes.
Provincial officials reported continued flooding Sunday night, and several attempted to evacuate people to higher ground.
Chhun Chhorn, Kompong Thom provincial governor, said: “The water levels are getting higher and higher. We are moving people to safety now.”
People living along the Stung Sen River in Sandan, Prasat Balang and Prasat Sambor districts have been warned to make emergency plans, he said.
In Stung Treng province, Governor Loy Sophat said floodwaters had risen higher than expected, and authorities put the entire province on alert. “The flood has destroyed more than 3,000 hectares of rice paddies, affecting every district in the province,” he said.
In Ratanakkiri, where three people were confirmed killed, emergency food aid was being delivered by helicopter, said Governor Pao Ham Phan.
Two of the victims were crushed by falling trees; the third drowned when the boat in which he was fishing capsized. Despite the deaths, the governor said most people in the province had been well-prepared. “Because we knew about the storm first, we could save our people on time,” he said.
Kham Phoeun, governor of Kratie province, said most people had been evacuated from the rising floodwaters, but that about 180 hectares of rice had been destroyed.
Near Preah Vihear, military personnel had to clear the road after a landslide blocked it in two places following heavy rain Friday night. “Our soldiers are used to it, so they are not affected by it,” Yim Phim, commander of Brigade 8, said Sunday.
Polling stations in several provinces were also closed due to flooding, preventing voters from checking their details on the electoral register, according to officials. Tep Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee, said: “People only have until October 20 to check their names on voter lists, but now our country is facing a natural disaster. It has really interrupted our work.” People in the affected provinces of Kampong Thom, Pursat, Ratanakkiri and Preah Vihear would be given an extended deadline, he said.
As the waters begin to recede, aid agencies are bracing themselves for the next phase: recovery. The CRC will provide water-purification systems, health education and seeds in what it insists will be a modest cleanup operation compared with neighbouring countries where Ketsana first struck, leaving hundreds dead.
“We cannot compare the impact [in Cambodia] to Indonesia, the Philippines or Vietnam,” Uy Sam Ath said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MOM KUNTHEAR AND THET SAMBATH
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Source: THE PHNOM PENH POST
Typhoon Ketsana does damage in Laos
October 5, 2009 12:12:10
Typhoon Ketsana has torn across the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, killing hundreds of people.
In Laos, the storm killed at least 24 people. The floods meant that until two days ago, the worst-hit Attapeu region could only be reached by helicopter and boat. The United Nations World Food Programme says canned fish and rice have now been delivered to storm survivors.
MAKIN: The World Food Programme has an office in Attapeu which is on the border with Vietnam and Cambodia down in the south, right in the south of Laos.
LAM: Yes and what's the devastation there like, how are the people coping?
MAKIN: Many people lost everything, two districts already suffered some floods in late July and we were going in to offer assistance for this flood and when they were struck again. Phouvong is already... and Sanxay - two of our poorest districts in all of Laos and these were affected. People lost about, we think 90 per cent of their crops, and it's coming up to harvest season. So in the next few months we're going to face real problems, real food shortages. Two districts are still accessible only by helicopter and we're not able to get out to all of the villages here. So we're simply working with the government, the Lao government and the army to helicopter food into the driest place and we'll coordinate villages to come and collect food from there. In the other districts we're getting trucks and boats, and the army are really helping coordinate a big effort here.
LAM: And Cait before the disaster hit what sort of a town or area was Attapeu? Was it a largely agricultural rural area?
MAKIN: It's quite rural; it's not as densely populated as other provinces in Laos. But I'm speaking to you from Samakkhixay, which is the capital, but we were all affected. But it is mainly rural and subsistence farming. There is a Vietnamese community, a large Vietnamese community which many small businesses were damaged and completely destroyed.
LAM: And as you look around you are large parts of the region still submerged, under water?
MAKIN: It's hard for us to tell. Yesterday I travelled by helicopter to Sanamxay and certainly there are parts [flooded]. It's very hard to get information. Helicopters are going to the worst areas and landing in the dry places and then we're relying on the government there to go to the more difficult places. So there are probably parts that are submerged. We had a little bit more strong rain last night which may have had some impact. For Samakkhixay where we are the water has receded and so we have about three districts that we can access.
LAM: What news have you of the capital Vientiane? Was Vientiane hit at all?
MAKIN: No as far as I'm aware it's been concentrated in the south. It came through Vietnam. We expected it to go up to the central regions in Khammouan and Savannakhet. There is someone in Savannakhet making assessment, but for now Attapeu is the worst hit with still quite serious in Xekong and Salavan also, which are the neighbouring districts, provinces to Attapeu.
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Source: ABC Radio Australia
Typhoon Ketsana has torn across the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, killing hundreds of people.
In Laos, the storm killed at least 24 people. The floods meant that until two days ago, the worst-hit Attapeu region could only be reached by helicopter and boat. The United Nations World Food Programme says canned fish and rice have now been delivered to storm survivors.
MAKIN: The World Food Programme has an office in Attapeu which is on the border with Vietnam and Cambodia down in the south, right in the south of Laos.
LAM: Yes and what's the devastation there like, how are the people coping?
MAKIN: Many people lost everything, two districts already suffered some floods in late July and we were going in to offer assistance for this flood and when they were struck again. Phouvong is already... and Sanxay - two of our poorest districts in all of Laos and these were affected. People lost about, we think 90 per cent of their crops, and it's coming up to harvest season. So in the next few months we're going to face real problems, real food shortages. Two districts are still accessible only by helicopter and we're not able to get out to all of the villages here. So we're simply working with the government, the Lao government and the army to helicopter food into the driest place and we'll coordinate villages to come and collect food from there. In the other districts we're getting trucks and boats, and the army are really helping coordinate a big effort here.
LAM: And Cait before the disaster hit what sort of a town or area was Attapeu? Was it a largely agricultural rural area?
MAKIN: It's quite rural; it's not as densely populated as other provinces in Laos. But I'm speaking to you from Samakkhixay, which is the capital, but we were all affected. But it is mainly rural and subsistence farming. There is a Vietnamese community, a large Vietnamese community which many small businesses were damaged and completely destroyed.
LAM: And as you look around you are large parts of the region still submerged, under water?
MAKIN: It's hard for us to tell. Yesterday I travelled by helicopter to Sanamxay and certainly there are parts [flooded]. It's very hard to get information. Helicopters are going to the worst areas and landing in the dry places and then we're relying on the government there to go to the more difficult places. So there are probably parts that are submerged. We had a little bit more strong rain last night which may have had some impact. For Samakkhixay where we are the water has receded and so we have about three districts that we can access.
LAM: What news have you of the capital Vientiane? Was Vientiane hit at all?
MAKIN: No as far as I'm aware it's been concentrated in the south. It came through Vietnam. We expected it to go up to the central regions in Khammouan and Savannakhet. There is someone in Savannakhet making assessment, but for now Attapeu is the worst hit with still quite serious in Xekong and Salavan also, which are the neighbouring districts, provinces to Attapeu.
*****************
Source: ABC Radio Australia
Laos gets more emergency aid
4 October 2009
HANOI - MORE emergency aid reached southern Laos on Sunday, aid workers said after Tropical Storm Ketsana left at least 24 people dead last week in one of Asia's poorest nations.
'They've already started going out and helping people, giving out water and food,' said Sally Sakulku, of British-based Health Unlimited, referring to her staff in hardest-hit Attapeu province. 'It's accessible now.'
After Ketsana hit on Wednesday, floodwaters left the rugged region reachable only by helicopter and boat until limited road access opened on Saturday.
Ms Sakulku said her teams expected to reach about 1,000 families on Sunday in Attapeu, which borders Cambodia. Some were still sheltering in schools but others have returned home, she said.
In adjacent Sekong province, also hard-hit, the relief agency CARE said it was delivering kettles to help people boil water, and was mobilising other resources.
'We are supplying medicines to the provincial government so that they are prepared, for example, if it comes to an outbreak of diarrhoea,' said Henry Braun, CARE's director for Laos.
He said more than 15,000 people in the province have been affected and 200 houses confirmed destroyed.
'However, there is still a lot of unknowns surrounding the situation, especially in the remote areas,' he said.
Canned fish and rice from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has also been delivered to southern Laos by the government, WFP said.
Ketsana has brought devastation across Southeast Asia, first killing at least 293 people in the Philippines before striking Vietnam, where 162 died, and Cambodia where it claimed 17 lives. -- AFP
*************
Source: THE STRAITS TIME
HANOI - MORE emergency aid reached southern Laos on Sunday, aid workers said after Tropical Storm Ketsana left at least 24 people dead last week in one of Asia's poorest nations.
'They've already started going out and helping people, giving out water and food,' said Sally Sakulku, of British-based Health Unlimited, referring to her staff in hardest-hit Attapeu province. 'It's accessible now.'
After Ketsana hit on Wednesday, floodwaters left the rugged region reachable only by helicopter and boat until limited road access opened on Saturday.
Ms Sakulku said her teams expected to reach about 1,000 families on Sunday in Attapeu, which borders Cambodia. Some were still sheltering in schools but others have returned home, she said.
In adjacent Sekong province, also hard-hit, the relief agency CARE said it was delivering kettles to help people boil water, and was mobilising other resources.
'We are supplying medicines to the provincial government so that they are prepared, for example, if it comes to an outbreak of diarrhoea,' said Henry Braun, CARE's director for Laos.
He said more than 15,000 people in the province have been affected and 200 houses confirmed destroyed.
'However, there is still a lot of unknowns surrounding the situation, especially in the remote areas,' he said.
Canned fish and rice from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has also been delivered to southern Laos by the government, WFP said.
Ketsana has brought devastation across Southeast Asia, first killing at least 293 people in the Philippines before striking Vietnam, where 162 died, and Cambodia where it claimed 17 lives. -- AFP
*************
Source: THE STRAITS TIME
Earthweek: Environmental news from around the globe
October 04, 2009 8:00 AM
UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
Tropical cyclones
A tropical storm that later became Typhoon Ketsana killed at least 288 people and damaged the homes of 3 million as it triggered the worst flooding the northern Philippines has experienced in 40 years.
After devastating parts of Manila, Ketsana went on to hit other Southeast Asian countries, killing 99 in Vietnam, 14 in Cambodia and 16 in Laos.
• Typhoon Parma cut a path across the Philippines’ northern edge on Saturday, killing four people but sparing the capital, Manila, from a second flood disaster as the storm churned toward Taiwan.
Tens of thousands of Filipinos had evacuated their homes as the storm bore down on the main island of Luzon just eight days after an earlier tempest left Manila awash in floods that killed almost 300 people.
• Another typhoon, Melor, was churning in the Philippine Sea, 1,600 miles to the east, threatening the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Penguin rebound
A species of penguin virtually wiped out on Macquarie Island more than 100 years ago has rebounded, to the delight of Australian wildlife experts.
The island, located between New Zealand and Antarctica, was teeming with king penguins when it was discovered in 1810.
But the birds were slaughtered for blubber oil over the next century to the point that only a small colony survived. The Australian Antarctic Survey says that hundreds of the birds now live in the area around Lusitania Bay.
It appears the population has grown to the point that the penguins have begun to look for new parts of the island to recolonize.
Pushing Earth’s limits
A team of the world’s most eminent environmental scientists published a warning that human activity has already pushed three of Earth’s nine biophysical boundaries to beyond the planet’s ability to self-regulate.
Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers attempt to set “acceptable” upper limits on man’s influence on such environmental conditions as climate, biodiversity, stratospheric ozone and chemical cycles like that of nitrogen.
They suggest that for some of those conditions, like the use of nitrogen in fertilizers and loading of atmospheric carbon dioxide, humankind may have already stepped outside the safety zone.
It’s feared we may have to backpedal quickly to avoid catastrophe. Human activities, most notably the growing reliance on fossil fuels and industrialized agriculture, have become so pervasive that they may trigger irreversible and abrupt environmental change by damaging the regulatory capacity of the planet, the group warned.
African famine looms
The severe drought that has parched much of East Africa this year continues to worsen while taking the lives of people, wildlife and livestock.
The charity Oxfam International has appealed for $15 million in emergency donations so it can provide 750,000 people with food assistance.
Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam’s East Africa director, said that while the drought stretches from the Horn of Africa to Uganda, about 3.8 million Kenyans, a tenth of the population, now need emergency aid.
Climate change has caused the frequency of drought to increase from about once per decade to once every two or three years.
Indian drought
Indian weather officials said that a weak summer monsoon has created the country’s worst drought since 1972.
Scant precipitation has caused extensive damage to rice, sugar cane and groundnut crops, according to the Meteorological Department.
It added that depleted reservoirs behind hydropower stations threaten both electricity and irrigation shortages this winter.
Acorn hazard
Many New Englanders are being forced to dodge a bumper crop of acorns raining down across the region this autumn.
The nuts were unusually scarce last year, but millions of the hard-shelled bombs are now bopping joggers on the head, whacking gardeners’ backsides and cracking vehicle windshields.
“It hurt,” University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor Wesley Autio told the The Boston Globe. “You stand outside and you can hear acorns hitting everything — cars, metal roofs, and it makes a tremendous sound.”
But the region’s largest acorn crop in memory is also allowing squirrels and other nut hoarders to fatten up for what some believe will be a brutal winter.
A cool summer along with record snowfalls and rain earlier this year have helped the acorns bloom larger and in greater numbers this fall.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
*****************
Source: gazette.com
UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
Tropical cyclones
A tropical storm that later became Typhoon Ketsana killed at least 288 people and damaged the homes of 3 million as it triggered the worst flooding the northern Philippines has experienced in 40 years.
After devastating parts of Manila, Ketsana went on to hit other Southeast Asian countries, killing 99 in Vietnam, 14 in Cambodia and 16 in Laos.
• Typhoon Parma cut a path across the Philippines’ northern edge on Saturday, killing four people but sparing the capital, Manila, from a second flood disaster as the storm churned toward Taiwan.
Tens of thousands of Filipinos had evacuated their homes as the storm bore down on the main island of Luzon just eight days after an earlier tempest left Manila awash in floods that killed almost 300 people.
• Another typhoon, Melor, was churning in the Philippine Sea, 1,600 miles to the east, threatening the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Penguin rebound
A species of penguin virtually wiped out on Macquarie Island more than 100 years ago has rebounded, to the delight of Australian wildlife experts.
The island, located between New Zealand and Antarctica, was teeming with king penguins when it was discovered in 1810.
But the birds were slaughtered for blubber oil over the next century to the point that only a small colony survived. The Australian Antarctic Survey says that hundreds of the birds now live in the area around Lusitania Bay.
It appears the population has grown to the point that the penguins have begun to look for new parts of the island to recolonize.
Pushing Earth’s limits
A team of the world’s most eminent environmental scientists published a warning that human activity has already pushed three of Earth’s nine biophysical boundaries to beyond the planet’s ability to self-regulate.
Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers attempt to set “acceptable” upper limits on man’s influence on such environmental conditions as climate, biodiversity, stratospheric ozone and chemical cycles like that of nitrogen.
They suggest that for some of those conditions, like the use of nitrogen in fertilizers and loading of atmospheric carbon dioxide, humankind may have already stepped outside the safety zone.
It’s feared we may have to backpedal quickly to avoid catastrophe. Human activities, most notably the growing reliance on fossil fuels and industrialized agriculture, have become so pervasive that they may trigger irreversible and abrupt environmental change by damaging the regulatory capacity of the planet, the group warned.
African famine looms
The severe drought that has parched much of East Africa this year continues to worsen while taking the lives of people, wildlife and livestock.
The charity Oxfam International has appealed for $15 million in emergency donations so it can provide 750,000 people with food assistance.
Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam’s East Africa director, said that while the drought stretches from the Horn of Africa to Uganda, about 3.8 million Kenyans, a tenth of the population, now need emergency aid.
Climate change has caused the frequency of drought to increase from about once per decade to once every two or three years.
Indian drought
Indian weather officials said that a weak summer monsoon has created the country’s worst drought since 1972.
Scant precipitation has caused extensive damage to rice, sugar cane and groundnut crops, according to the Meteorological Department.
It added that depleted reservoirs behind hydropower stations threaten both electricity and irrigation shortages this winter.
Acorn hazard
Many New Englanders are being forced to dodge a bumper crop of acorns raining down across the region this autumn.
The nuts were unusually scarce last year, but millions of the hard-shelled bombs are now bopping joggers on the head, whacking gardeners’ backsides and cracking vehicle windshields.
“It hurt,” University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor Wesley Autio told the The Boston Globe. “You stand outside and you can hear acorns hitting everything — cars, metal roofs, and it makes a tremendous sound.”
But the region’s largest acorn crop in memory is also allowing squirrels and other nut hoarders to fatten up for what some believe will be a brutal winter.
A cool summer along with record snowfalls and rain earlier this year have helped the acorns bloom larger and in greater numbers this fall.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
*****************
Source: gazette.com
Asia death toll rises as Ketsana floods recede
By Tran Thi Minh Ha (AFP) – 2 October 2009
THUA THIEN-HUE, Vietnam — Asian nations were left counting the cost of Typhoon Ketsana Friday, with the death tolls rising in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, according to Red Cross reports.
Vietnam's death toll reached 99 on Friday with another 14 missing, said an official from the national flood and storm control committee.
In Cambodia the number of deaths rose to at least 17, while 16 people were killed and 135 left missing in Laos, the Red Cross said on Friday.
With flood waters receding in much of typhoon-struck Vietnam on Friday, residents hung clothes out to dry, cleared fallen trees and cleaned the muck left by one of the country's worst disasters in recent years.
In the poor fishing village of Rong in Hue city, wet clothes hung on fences and trees while women moved furniture outside late Thursday to dry, or cleaned the muddy floors of their metal-roofed houses.
"We are still cleaning up but things will be OK," said Nguyen Van Tam, 48.
Vietnam's death toll reached 99 on Friday with another 14 missing, said an official from the national flood and storm control committee.
The heaviest toll came in the fishing province of Quang Ngai, in the area where Ketsana made landfall on Tuesday with winds that state media said reached up to 149 kilometres (92 miles) per hour.
Quang Ngai recorded 27 deaths and there were 21 in Kon Tum, a mountainous province with a large population of poor ethnic minority tribes, the official said.
Officials are now concentrating on returning the evacuees to their homes "and cleaning the environment which was very polluted after the passage of the typhoon", an official from the flood and storm committee in Quang Ngai said late Thursday.
Some homes shown on state television looked like they had been hit by an earthquake.
Downed trees are being cut through with saws and people are sweeping debris off roads, television pictures showed. Soldiers are assisting in the effort.
"It was dirty but... we helped each other so it was a lot of fun," said Nguyen Van Ngoc, a sailor in Rung village.
He was among the hundreds of thousands of people who fled their homes because of the storm and said he only returned on Wednesday after the floodwaters, which had reached halfway up the wall of his metal-roofed house, had drained away.
"When the water receded there was mud in the house," said Tran Phuc, a father-of-six in Tong Chanh village south of Hue.
He said the family spent a day cleaning the floor and the furniture.
The typhoon caused damage initially estimated at 120 million dollars to Vietnam, the government said on Thursday in a detailed report obtained by AFP.
It said more than 170,000 homes were flooded while a similar number had damaged roofs, and more than 6,300 other houses collapsed, mostly in Quang Nam province.
Thousands of farm animals died and almost 50,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of farmland were damaged in the country which is the world's second-largest rice exporter.
The death toll from Typhoon Ketsana in Cambodia has risen to at least 17, the country's Red Cross said on Friday.
Three more people were reported to have been killed after Ketsana swept through the country earlier this week, said Uy Sam Ath, director of the disaster management department at the Cambodian Red Cross.
The new toll includes a man who died in eastern Mondulkiri province and two people -- a father and a daughter -- who drowned when their boat capsized Wednesday evening in central Kampong Chhnang province, he said.
Northern Cambodia suffered widespread flooding after the storm battered the country Tuesday evening, affecting thousands of people and destroying hundreds of homes across the country, officials said.
Ketsana has killed 16 people and left 135 missing in Laos, the country's Red Cross said.
Fourteen of the deaths came in southern Attapeu province on the border with Cambodia, said Bountheung Menvilay, head of the agency's disaster preparedness division.
Two other deaths came in Savannakhet province, but Attapeu and adjacent Sekong provinces were most affected by the storm, which passed through the country on Wednesday, the Red Cross official said.
"We do have casualties in that location," said government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing, who was unable to confirm the number of deaths.
Bountheung said most of the deaths came during flash floods caused by the storm which has displaced 37,500 people in one of Asia's poorest nations.
**************
Source: AFP
THUA THIEN-HUE, Vietnam — Asian nations were left counting the cost of Typhoon Ketsana Friday, with the death tolls rising in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, according to Red Cross reports.
Vietnam's death toll reached 99 on Friday with another 14 missing, said an official from the national flood and storm control committee.
In Cambodia the number of deaths rose to at least 17, while 16 people were killed and 135 left missing in Laos, the Red Cross said on Friday.
With flood waters receding in much of typhoon-struck Vietnam on Friday, residents hung clothes out to dry, cleared fallen trees and cleaned the muck left by one of the country's worst disasters in recent years.
In the poor fishing village of Rong in Hue city, wet clothes hung on fences and trees while women moved furniture outside late Thursday to dry, or cleaned the muddy floors of their metal-roofed houses.
"We are still cleaning up but things will be OK," said Nguyen Van Tam, 48.
Vietnam's death toll reached 99 on Friday with another 14 missing, said an official from the national flood and storm control committee.
The heaviest toll came in the fishing province of Quang Ngai, in the area where Ketsana made landfall on Tuesday with winds that state media said reached up to 149 kilometres (92 miles) per hour.
Quang Ngai recorded 27 deaths and there were 21 in Kon Tum, a mountainous province with a large population of poor ethnic minority tribes, the official said.
Officials are now concentrating on returning the evacuees to their homes "and cleaning the environment which was very polluted after the passage of the typhoon", an official from the flood and storm committee in Quang Ngai said late Thursday.
Some homes shown on state television looked like they had been hit by an earthquake.
Downed trees are being cut through with saws and people are sweeping debris off roads, television pictures showed. Soldiers are assisting in the effort.
"It was dirty but... we helped each other so it was a lot of fun," said Nguyen Van Ngoc, a sailor in Rung village.
He was among the hundreds of thousands of people who fled their homes because of the storm and said he only returned on Wednesday after the floodwaters, which had reached halfway up the wall of his metal-roofed house, had drained away.
"When the water receded there was mud in the house," said Tran Phuc, a father-of-six in Tong Chanh village south of Hue.
He said the family spent a day cleaning the floor and the furniture.
The typhoon caused damage initially estimated at 120 million dollars to Vietnam, the government said on Thursday in a detailed report obtained by AFP.
It said more than 170,000 homes were flooded while a similar number had damaged roofs, and more than 6,300 other houses collapsed, mostly in Quang Nam province.
Thousands of farm animals died and almost 50,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of farmland were damaged in the country which is the world's second-largest rice exporter.
The death toll from Typhoon Ketsana in Cambodia has risen to at least 17, the country's Red Cross said on Friday.
Three more people were reported to have been killed after Ketsana swept through the country earlier this week, said Uy Sam Ath, director of the disaster management department at the Cambodian Red Cross.
The new toll includes a man who died in eastern Mondulkiri province and two people -- a father and a daughter -- who drowned when their boat capsized Wednesday evening in central Kampong Chhnang province, he said.
Northern Cambodia suffered widespread flooding after the storm battered the country Tuesday evening, affecting thousands of people and destroying hundreds of homes across the country, officials said.
Ketsana has killed 16 people and left 135 missing in Laos, the country's Red Cross said.
Fourteen of the deaths came in southern Attapeu province on the border with Cambodia, said Bountheung Menvilay, head of the agency's disaster preparedness division.
Two other deaths came in Savannakhet province, but Attapeu and adjacent Sekong provinces were most affected by the storm, which passed through the country on Wednesday, the Red Cross official said.
"We do have casualties in that location," said government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing, who was unable to confirm the number of deaths.
Bountheung said most of the deaths came during flash floods caused by the storm which has displaced 37,500 people in one of Asia's poorest nations.
**************
Source: AFP
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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.
*******************
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5he1GqURhlak44Bhzgvx8gTG5w6GQ
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.
*******************
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5he1GqURhlak44Bhzgvx8gTG5w6GQ
Cambodia Flooding: CWS situation report
Source: Church World Service (CWS)
Date: 29 Sep 2009
CHURCH WORLD SERVICE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
CWS SITUATION REPORT: CAMBODIA FLOODING
SITUATION: Monsoon rains related to Typhoon Ketsana, which affected the Philippines, have hit Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Effects are particularly strong in Cambodia, where CWS Cambodia reports that in one province, Kompong Thom, 223 villages - some 14,744 families -- have been flooded out.
CWS RESPONSE: CWS Cambodia has conducted assessments and reports first priority needs in affected regions include food, shelter (plastic sheeting to protect family from the rain and heat), clean water, mosquito netting and water and sanitation units. CWS plans to distribute food and non-food items in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Kompong Thom provinces, all in northwest Cambodia. Further details about the response are pending.
For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS
Hotline, (800) 297-1516.
CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151
Program Director: dderr@churchworldservice.org
***************
Source: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ADGO-7WCS7N?OpenDocument
Date: 29 Sep 2009
CHURCH WORLD SERVICE EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
CWS SITUATION REPORT: CAMBODIA FLOODING
SITUATION: Monsoon rains related to Typhoon Ketsana, which affected the Philippines, have hit Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Effects are particularly strong in Cambodia, where CWS Cambodia reports that in one province, Kompong Thom, 223 villages - some 14,744 families -- have been flooded out.
CWS RESPONSE: CWS Cambodia has conducted assessments and reports first priority needs in affected regions include food, shelter (plastic sheeting to protect family from the rain and heat), clean water, mosquito netting and water and sanitation units. CWS plans to distribute food and non-food items in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Kompong Thom provinces, all in northwest Cambodia. Further details about the response are pending.
For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS
Hotline, (800) 297-1516.
CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151
Program Director: dderr@churchworldservice.org
***************
Source: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/ADGO-7WCS7N?OpenDocument
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