A defense ministry helicopter rescues stranded crew members at sea, Quang Tri province, Vietnam, Oct. 11, 2020. Photo:EPA
Heavy storms and rainfall lead to rising death tolls in South-Eastern Asia
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | OCTOBER 13th 2020
Continued heavy rainfall and repeated cases of flash flooding have led to a series of deaths and disappearances in the South-East Asian countries of Cambodia and Vietnam, right before the passing of a tropical storm named Nangka.
The tropical storm Nangka had approached the Vietnamese coast on Tuesday, according to state media. The country’s weather sources confirmed that from Wednesday through Friday, Nangka will proceed to travel through central and Northern Vietnam at wind speeds of up to 100km per hour, bringing with it some heavy rainfall that is likely to initiate landslides and an increase in flooding occurrences.
Officials have confirmed that both the countries of Vietnam and Cambodia were already having troubles with landslides and flash floods since early October. Thousands were displaced as a direct result, and the death toll is thought to be, at the time of writing, at 40 people. The numbers are expected to rise due to the large number of people still missing.
“We received a report saying that between 10 and 13 workers have been buried in a landslide and we don’t know if they are still alive,” a disaster management official in the Thua Thien Hue province of Vietnam told the Reuters news agency, having added that soldiers were already deployed to help with the situation. “We are concerned that the incoming storm will worsen the flood situation.”
It’s recently been reported however that the actual number of workers who had been trapped beneath the landslide was 17. A government statement found that the soldiers sent to help the trapped workers were put on hold on early Tuesday, being unable to reach them due to high water levels, as well as an increase in landslides, and a steady rise in the heavy rains.
Prior to the soldiers, an additional 13 people who had been sent to help the workers had also disappeared, according to the statement, revealing just how harsh and deadly the effects of the storms were getting.
Nearly 46,000 people had to be evacuated from flooded areas, and a severe 109,000 homes were inundated. Due to its very long coastline, Vietnam is rather used to visits from heavy storms and the effects that come with them. Only last year, 132 people were killed due to storm activity in the country, and 207 had been injured.
With the situation having already been worsened over the weekend with the onset of rains brought on by the depressed storm Linfa, and the incoming threat of storm Nangka whilst much of the country regions are already suffering inundation -including some 84,000 hectares of crops- there are fears that the country will see a great rise in poverty and death tolls in the coming days. The threat of the coronavirus pandemic notwithstanding.
