Typhoon Bualoi leaves 51 dead in Vietnam

Hanoi, Oct 3 (IANS) Typhoon Bualoi and ensuing floods and landslides have killed 51 people, left 14 others missing and injured 164 across northern and central Vietnam, with preliminary economic losses estimated at nearly 15.9 trillion Vietnamese dong (about $608 million), the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority said in a report on Friday.

The typhoon damaged or submerged more than 238,000 houses, inundated nearly 89,000 hectares of rice and other crops, and caused losses to over 17,000 hectares of aquaculture and nearly 50,300 hectares of forests.

The typhoon also severely damaged infrastructure, with over 8,800 electricity poles downed and nearly 468,500 households still without power, while nearly 1,500 schools were damaged, according to the report.

Local authorities are continuing recovery efforts, mobilising equipment to clear blocked roads, restore essential services and support affected communities, the report added.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh approved a support package worth 2.524 trillion Vietnamese dong (about $96.5 million) from the central budget reserve to 15 affected localities for emergency relief, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Vietnam News Agency on Friday.

Earlier, on September 30, Pham Minh Chinh had instructed local authorities and sectors to take urgent measures to support affected residents and mitigate the aftermath of the typhoon.

PM Chinh had also extended his deepest condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families and the Party organisations, administrations, and residents enduring the losses and difficulties caused by the disasters.

He had ordered the chairpersons of the People's Committees of Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Hue, Phu Tho, Son La, Lao Cai, Da Nang, Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Thai Nguyen to mobilise forces and vehicles to access isolated areas as soon as possible, repair damaged houses, arrange shelters for affected residents, and provide them with essential supplies.

He had ordered the repair of damaged educational and medical facilities before October 5.

Several villages in northern central Vietnam had remained flooded with no traffic or power.

Bualoi was the second major storm to threaten Asia in a week. Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest to hit in years, left at least 28 deaths in the northern Philippines and Taiwan before making landfall in China and dissipating over Vietnam.

--IANS

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