The other fatalities are from the five provinces of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lai Chau, Son La, and Lao Cai, where the rains have damaged houses, destroyed crops and severed traffic to remote areas.

Damaged roads have hindered rescue efforts, the National Flood and Storm Control Committee said.

Over 1,200 troops and paramilitary forces have been sent to rush food aid and other necessities to flood-hit areas, said Nguyen Son Ha, office manager of the National Search and Rescue Committee.

In a note Monday, the Health Ministry also warned flood-hit residents to remain vigilant against the possible spread of the influenza A (H1N1) virus.

The National Hydrometeorology Forecast Center said Monday that rains would continue for the next two days but with less intensity.

In a dispatch Monday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also instructed the governments of affected provinces and concerned agencies to hasten the search for missing victims and evacuate vulnerable residents to safer areas.

Floods and storms frequently strike Vietnam between July and October, but this year a heavy toll has been exacted even earlier, with 47 people listed as dead or missing from natural disasters in the first half of this year.

In 2008, natural disasters claimed at least 550 lives, according to the General Statistics Office.

Tragic scenes

Cong Bang Commune in Bac Kan Province was torn Monday by the weeping of two girls, Ban Thi Pet and Ban Thi Khe, who lost their parents to a landslide last weekend.

Six houses with 10 people inside were buried by landslides that have taken a heavy toll on the commune’s

Khen Len Hamlet. The hamlet had remained immune from landslides and flash floods until last week, catching the residents off guard, local authorities said.

“I was rounding up the cows to the fields when I heard a rocking blast. I looked back at my home and it was buried along with my two sons, their wives, and two granddaughters,” said 55-year-old Trieu Kiem Vang.

“Rescue efforts have made little headway as the roads had been heavily damaged. There is little hope of finding any survivor,” said Hoang Luong Phung, the Cong Bang Commune head.

Forty-five households in the commune have been displaced and are looking for new places to resettle.

But they are all impoverished and making ends meet is already a heavy task for them, the commune government said, calling for further help.

Source: TN, Agencies