HANOI, September 11. /TASS/. Nearly 300 people got killed and went missing as a result of a powerful flood in northern Vietnam, the Vietnam News Agency reported, referring to the Department of Dyke Management and Disaster Prevention.
According to the department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, floods and landslides in a number of northern provinces have led to the deaths of 152 people, with another 140 reported missing. Three mountainous provinces - Lao Cai (53 killed, 102 missing), Kao Bang (29 killed, 23 missing) and Yen Bai (37 killed, 3 missing) - recorded the highest death toll, injured and missing due to floods and landslides.
Hanoi authorities have warned of the threat of flooding in a number of districts in the central part of the city due to the rapid rise in the water level of the Hong Ha (Red) River. It currently stands at 10.76 meters, which is 0.26 meters above the second flood danger level. Over 1,000 households along the river dam have been evacuated to safe areas. According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the water level in the river will slowly decrease and fall below the second flood danger level over the next 12-24 hours.
Emergency services are reporting significant material damage to northern Vietnam caused by the disaster. In 26 provinces and cities, the flooding has inundated and destroyed 101,344 houses and damaged extensive sections of highways, power and communication lines. The flood destroyed more than 160,000 hectares of rice, about 30,000 hectares of other crops and 16,000 hectares of fruit plantations. Furthermore, more than 1,600 rafts for aquaculture farming were damaged and washed away, and more than 1,300 cattle and 793,000 poultry died due to flooding.
The current flooding in northern Vietnam has already been called one of the largest in modern history. The flood was the result of Yagi Typhoon.