HANOI, 14 August 2008 (IRIN) - Disaster assessment teams have headed into parts of northern Vietnam that were hard hit by tropical storm Kammuri, which caused flooding and landslides resulting in the deaths of at least 119 and the evacuation of nearly 2,000 people, according to government officials.

Kammuri battered the region on 8 and 9 August with high winds and heavy rains, causing rivers to burst their banks, washing away houses and roads, and bringing down walls of mud on homes.

On 13 August, the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC) reported 119 deaths, 40 missing and 86 injured. Some 798 houses have been destroyed and 17,888 damaged, while 14,088 hectares of rice and other crops were spoilt.

As of 12 August, troops had evacuated 1,824 families from flood areas in Lao Cai province, the worst hit in terms of human losses, according to the CCFSC.

A national newspaper, the Vietnam News, said rains, while weakening, have continued to cause floods and landslides in Bac Kan province, adding that most communes in the province's Pac Nam district remained isolated.

The newspaper said 300 tourists stranded in the hill resort of Sapa arrived back in Hanoi after the train service between the capital and Lao Cai resumed on 14 August.

No international appeal expected

Meanwhile, the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator reported the government has the capacity to deal with the current flood situation and no international appeal is expected.

The Army has mobilised nearly 2,000 soldiers in search and rescue operations, while two military planes have been used to transport 4.5 tonnes of food and water to victims in Yen Bai. The Ministry of Health reported it has dispatched 50 medicine packs, 50 life jackets and 1,000kg of Chloramin B to the affected areas. The Centre for Water Supply and Sanitation has sent one ton of chemicals to decontaminate water resources in Phu Tho, Yen Bai, and Lao Cai Provinces.

Lao Cai authorities have provided VND3 million (US$180,000), 17 tonnes of rice, one ton of instant noodles and other essential supplies to flood-affected people.

Government authorities said troops were also trying to restore communications networks in the affected areas.

Twenty-one inter-agency disaster management experts headed into the three worst affected provinces of Yen Bai, Lao Cai and Phu Tho on 14 August to assess the impact of the storm.

"We have enough information about the damage and losses, but the needs are not that clear," said Ugo Blanco, the UN Development Programme Disaster Management Programme Officer in Hanoi.

The teams are composed of a number of specialists in water and sanitation, children's nutrition and livelihoods from the government's People's Aid Coordinating committee, PACCOM, and the Disaster Management Working Group, which consists of humanitarian agencies, Blanco said. Two UN specialists will focus on health facilities and supplies.

The teams are due back in Hanoi on 16 or 17 August and will share their findings shortly after.

kj/bj/sr

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