Natural catastrophes

18.8, Tropical storm Kammuri

Vietnam: authorities used army helicopters to evacuate thousands stranded by tropical storm “Kammuri”, which killed at least 113 people, as forecasters warned of more bad weather ahead. Disaster relief workers kept searching for 45 people still missing since heavy rains pounded the mountainous north for three days a week earlier, swelling rivers and triggering deadly mudslides and flash floods. Troops were rushing water, food and medicines to villagers who remained isolated by floods and blocked roads and rail lines in the mostly poor region near the Chinese border. Some 2,700 troops and helicopters have been mobilised to evacuate more than 5,000 residents to safer areas in the worst-hit Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces. In Lao Cai, where 49 people died in the worst storms to hit the region in decades, hopes of finding the 37 people still missing were fading. Across the north, more than 670 houses were destroyed, over 17,700 buildings flooded and damaged, and 14,000 hectares (34,600 acres) of crops wiped out, the central government said. The government allocated almost VND221bn from the State emergency fund to help flood-hit provinces, mostly in northern mountains. The aid will be used to compensate the bereaved families, provide supplies, help repair dwelling houses, schools and medical stations and restore infrastructure.